Hammer to My Head, Knife To My Heart
by SleepingInTheMeadow
Summary: Regina finds herself bored during her curse, and takes up a new hobby, tormenting Mary Margaret in the most discreet way she could think. Romantic Snow Queen Slowburn
1. Hooked On You

Regina stomped grumpily through the streets of Storybrooke, passing by pawns in her quest for vengeance. Speaking of vengeance, Mary Margaret ambled towards her, retreating into her scarf meekly, holding folders and books. She felt Mary Margaret's body connect with hers and Mary fell to the ground.

"You should look where you're going," Regina said coldly. Kneeling on the sidewalk, Mary Margaret nodded meekly, trying her best to hide the blush filling her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Mayor Mills." Regina rolled her eyes and kept walking to the town hall, her designated job, as decided by the Dark Curse.

It's been 8 years since her curse had been cast, and she's at the point where she's constantly annoyed by each day the curse brings. Her life was a constant record on repeat and was looking for something to bring her life something. She just couldn't figure out what.

It seems that Mary Margaret was miserable, but didn't know why. That was the goal, wasn't it? To have Snow live her life away from her sickening husband and her daughter? Then why did Regina suddenly feel so wretched?

In the Enchanted Forest, she would find a new way to torture her, but circumstances are less than satisfactory here. Of course, she could get Graham to figure something else out, but it's more fun when she can do it herself.

Of course, work was literally the same as usual, but fulfilling, and one of the only things she can bury herself in. Once more, she was walking into her empty house at 9:00 in the evening heading straight for her whiskey cabinet. She layed down on her couch, kicking off her heels and taking a sip from her glass.

Once she finished her second drink, she shot up with an idea forming in her mind. The amber liquid swished in her glass as she set it down on her table and pulled her shoes on, grabbing her jacket, and fumbled for the keys in her pocket.

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Mary Margaret sat on her small couch with a pillow in her lap, grading her classes latest pop-quiz when a knock at the door startles her. She tentatively set her things down and answered it.

"Mayor Mills, hi. Can I help you?" Regina shook her head and quickly snagged the other woman's lips on hers, biting her bottom lip lightly, pulling her in aggressively. Mary Margaret quickly pulled away.

"What are you…"

"Oh, don't deny it dear, I know you want this." Regina moved in again, but Mary Margaret backed away.

"…I'm not exactly denying it, I just want to know why." Regina rolled her eyes.

"Why know when it could be a mystery." Mary Margaret went in this time, pressing her lips lightly to the other woman, but finding herself ensnared in a heated kiss that shook her from her head to her feet. Regina pulled her to the couch and shoved her to sit, climbing on top and gripping her short cropped hair. Mary moaned in her mouth, but kept her hands at her sides, until Regina took them and guided them to her hips.

"As much as I want this, it's a school night and I have to be up early tomorrow," Mary mentioned against Regina's neck, grazing her teeth along her pulse point. Regina froze up and rolled her eyes, while Mary Margaret got slightly flustered.

"Fine. I'll be leaving," Regina breathed. Mary Margaret stood up after Regina.

"Tomorrow then?" Regina rolled her eyes.

"If I feel like it." She stomped out the door and down the stairs, where she heard the other woman slowly sigh before closing the door. She grinned on the way to her car.

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Snow sat in the diner at a table, reading her book. Looking behind her, she saw Regina walking to the entrance to the diner. She straightened her beret and fixed her hair, then opened her book back up in time for the diner bells to jingle, announcing the mayor's arrival.

"Mayor Mills," Snow greeted. Regina rolled her eyes.

"Miss Blanchard." She regarded pointedly, strolling up to the counter and ordering her coffee, black. She stood at the counter, ignoring the schoolteacher behind her and glancing at the menu above her.

Snow felt very baffled at the end of every conversation she's had with the mayor. She was always cold, but yesterday was the first time she had _wanted _to talk with Miss Blanchard other than to criticize her teaching, her clothes, or whatever she was bothered with.

She didn't understand why she was so unwelcome. She couldn't remember doing anything to her, but despite that, she was always acting as unpleasantly as she could when talking with her. It's not that she's the only target of her inhospitality, but she is the only one she downright _insults. _And when she came over and kissed her, that was even more perplexing, and when at the end, Mary Margaret seemed to be the one begging, not Regina. She really was a puzzling woman.

But she still found herself wanting her approval, her attention, and a space in her mind.

Later that night, Red tried getting Snow out for another girl's night, but not wanting to go. She somehow got dragged along anyway.

She stood at her full length mirror, eyeing her reflection. She looked strong, confident, and not at all infatuated with the mayor. Sadly, it was inaccurate with how she really felt. Her tight red dress clung to her shapely body and ended before her knees. Ruby told her to wear it for tonight, despite how uncomfortable she felt in a bar full of drunk, slobbering men.

Despite all that, she still tried to flaunt herself, to no avail. Well, accept when Regina stepped through those doors to the Rabbit Hole, scrunching her nose at the god-awful scent of sweat, cheap liquor and cigars. Her heart fluttered and she tried to hold it still as Regina made her way to the other woman.

"You don't seem bold enough for the Rabbit Hole," Regina commented, grinning maliciously.

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think," Mary Margaret said strongly. Regina's face fell and she glared.

"Well, aren't you going to buy me a drink?" Mary Margaret blushed and flustered.

"Um, well, actually, I was just with…um, Ruby and Ashley." Regina rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly." Mary Margaret thought, then caught up with Regina. From their table, both girls jaws slacked at the sight of Mary Margaret with the mayor.

After three too many drinks, Regina led Mary Margaret out the door and into the brisk air outside. It was pitch black outside, lit by nothing than a measly few streetlamps. In the dim light, she saw Mary smiling. Regina turned the other woman towards her, drawing her in a kiss made hazy by alcohol and fatigue.

"Come home with me," Mary Margaret whispered under her breath. Regina nodded dazedly and allowed herself to be dragged to the small loft Mary called home. She pushed Mary Margaret to the bedroom, where she all but fell on top of the other woman, lazily licking her neck and down to the neckline of her revealing red dress. The woman under her sighed and moaned quietly, squirming under her delicate but firm touch.

This was the power she needed, the power she wanted, the power she's craved for longer than she cared to admit. Feeling the woman who constantly betrayed her, defied her, hurt her, submitting under the touch she administrated willingly.

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Regina's head pounded, like a hammer connecting with her skull with each pump of blood from her dark heart. Beside her, Mary Margaret slept peacefully, completely oblivious to the fact that she was infiltrated by the woman who has ruined her life many times over. Regina loved everything bit of it. Every touch, every kiss, every firm caress, every painful-yet-pleasurable feeling she gave Mary Margaret, everything.

She quickly left the weird comfort of her enemies bed and collected her clothes, indolently strewn across the apartment, even picking garments off of lampshades, tables, and succulents.

Mary Margaret awoke earlier than she had hoped, padding out of the room with a blanket wrapped around her torso as she opened the door.

"Regina?" The woman stopped in the doorframe and turned to the brunette standing in the middle of the apartment.

"Yes?"

"What does this mean? Us, I mean." Regina didn't miss a beat when replying.

"Whatever you want dear, as long as it isn't a relationship." Regina left and slammed the door behind her.

Mary Margaret sighed and fought the oncoming tears as she pulled a box of cereal off the top of her cupboards. She had lesson plans to attend to, but could only watch rerun after rerun of The Cosby Show. Once she reached her sixth episode, she shut her television off hastily and held her head in her hands.

Instead, she tried not to think about the woman who disregarded her this morning and outright told her she wanted anything but a relationship with her. Just the thought of her made her head hurt.

Her phone rang from the kitchen and she jumped and grinned. She ran to kitchen and picked it up, finding out it was only Ruby.

_Are you okay? _She asked. She rolled her eyes.

_Yes, I'm fine. Why?_

_I last saw you walking out with Regina on your arm. _

_And?_

_I just don't want you getting hurt. _

_Relax, Rubes, I'll be fine. _

She sighed and hung up. It rang once more and she knew it was Ruby or Ashley. Picking up again, it was neither, but Regina.

_Now that I'm thinking about it, would you want to go on a date with me? _Mary Margaret answered quickly.

_Sure. Tomorrow at Granny's, 3?_

_Sounds good. See you tomorrow. _Mary Margaret giggled excitedly and picked an outfit out from her wardrobe. A simple white dress and black flats, with a short black cardigan.

Regina held the bridge of her nose in between two fingers bitterly. She sighed and chuckled slightly at the circumstances she found herself in. She agreed to go on a date with the woman she hates to torment her, because she finds herself constantly bored. she chuckled once more and took a sip of her cherry wine, waiting for her fish casserole to finish baking.


	2. Ripped At The Seams

**Someone alerted me of a couple of issues with the timeline, and I'm so so sorry, it completely slipped my mind. I'll try to be aware, but bear with me, I may slip up again. I hope you enjoy!**

Mary Margaret clung to Regina like a security blanket, but she didn't exactly make her feel secure. She made her feel…reckless, dark, clingy, almost dangerous and courageous. She has never had a relationship like this one. She's never kept any relationship a secret, or at least relatively secret, and yet she's never felt so small. Regina makes plans, but Snow always feels clingy, and Regina acts as if she wasn't the one who asked her out on a date. Mary has never dated a woman, but she felt satisfied with her experience so far.

Regina absolutely loves the power. She loves the feeling of letting down Mary Margaret and have her begging for sex, for attention, for anything. She's a lot like her younger self, begging Regina for attention, being disappointed when she couldn't come over late at night, and absolutely obsessing over the thought of that woman every waking moment of every day. Mary Margaret didn't even know she was being manipulated.

Regina had bent over to fix her hair in her full length mirror and applied extra lipstick. She grinned maliciously and pulled on her heels.

Mary Margaret pulled piles and piles of bland clothes from her closet and laid them out on the bed. She eyed a short emerald green dress with a dipping neckline. She pulled it on and smoothed the fabric out, gripping the hem of the dress and rubbing the fabric between her fingers nervously. She bit her lip and pulled on a matching emerald necklace and fixed her hair.

Regina insisted on going to a fancy restaurant that just opened up across the street from the only supermarket in town after deciding that Granny's was too public. Mary Margaret felt iffy about it, but decided against asking for a different venue for their meal.

Mary Margaret glanced around the restaurant and spotted Regina in a shapely dress that hugged her body and displayed a bit of cleavage. She waved her over and smiled, but it didn't touch her eyes. She sat across from her and looked at the drinks menu. Regina ordered a bottle of wine for them both, and Mary Margaret opened the menu, alternating between looking at pasta options and looking at the woman across her, blushing lightly when their eyes met.

Regina paid no heed to it, in fact, purposefully ignoring it. Regina also ignored the voice telling her that this would be a bad idea, but she was blinded by ice cold revenge to know that this was going _way _too far, that emotional abuse was a thing and she had every intention to turn their 'relationship' into exactly that. She should have felt bad, but she had no more pity left; it was all bestowed upon herself.

Sometimes, Regina wishes she could feel things like Mary Margaret. Placidly, gently, and tenderly. She doesn't think she's loved like that since Daniel. Sometimes, she wishes she could get rid of the thirst for revenge, but like an arrow, it's lodged too deeply inside, unable to leave without pain and a gaping hole to show for it.

Mary Margaret had no idea the thoughts the former queen had. The horrid dreams she was plagued with. The dark wishes and murderous revenge tainting her once-peaceful thoughts. The darkness filling her heart, a cup bound to overflow, spilling it's contents over everything it could touch. She didn't know a thing. All she knew was that the Mayor of Storybrooke was hiding behind indestructible walls of solitude, hiding herself from the sunlight. She thought she could be the one to break them down, brick by brick, but Regina had other plans, horrible plans.

In Regina's masterful sociopathic mind, she would build trust with the girl. She would sink her teeth into her and refuse to let her go. She would bind her and prevent any escape, and would destroy her from the inside out. She would break her down and make sure to do so discreetly, she would never know, at least of her true intentions. She wanted to confuse her, baffle her, make her question absolutely everything she ever knew, and mess with her any way she could. Boy, was this going to be fun, she thought.

Turning back to Mary Margaret, she smirked softly and Mary Margaret blushed even harder. Their waitress came around and took their orders, while Mary Margaret was lost in thought.

After she left, Mary Margaret snapped back to reality rather harshly, that Regina almost jumped.

"You okay, dear?" Mary nodded and smiled gracefully.

"Yeah, fine," she dismissed,"I was just wondering, where is somewhere you would like to travel?"

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know, I tried to think of a good question for a first date." Regina rolled her eyes dismissively.

"What's yours," she questioned.

"I want to go to Thailand. It just seems so unique from our world, and I've heard that the landscapes are gorgeous." Regina nodded.

Mary kept asking questions, but she didn't answer a single one, turning them towards her and narrowly avoiding them. Cursed Mary Margaret liked cats, long walks in the forest, loved her students, wanted to have as big a family as she could, and she loved emeralds.

Regina didn't actually care, but better to have her answer than herself.

Their food came after what felt like hours of endless torture for Regina. After they finished, Regina drove her back to the apartment. After parking, Mary leaned across the gap in the seats and pulled Regina to her, faces inches away from touching.

"Wanna come up?" Regina thought and Mary Margaret was jumping in her seat waiting for a response.

"Why not?" Mary led her upstairs suggestively and once they were in the confines of her loft, Mary turned around and push Regina up against the door, grinding softly against her and kissing passionately.

"What's come over you," Regina questioned. Mary smiled but gave no reply, instead unzipping her dress and pushing it down to her ankles.

——————————

Mary Margaret again woke up with an empty space behind her. She sighed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a blouse. She left after barely finding time to eat a bowl of cereal and headed for the school.

She knew she shouldn't have gone on a date on a school night, but Regina erased all of her better judgement and replaced it with something else, something foreign to her.

She was obviously distracted throughout the day, but the kids were oblivious. After the bell for recess rang, Regina sashayed in.

"Regina, what are you doing here? School is still in session."

"I'm aware, but this won't take long."

"Regina, I don't have time for…that."

"No, not that. This arrangement isn't working for me, whatever it is. I'll see you around town, Miss Blanchard." Mary Margaret gasped a little and held in a sob, letting Regina leave. She held her head in her hands and moved her fingers through her hair. She knew it wouldn't last, especially with the mayor, who's mood changes like the time, but not this quickly. Was she really that repelling?

Regina slammed her car door and couldn't hide her wicked smirk any longer.

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Despite their relationship lasting eight days, she still felt saddened at the thought of Regina, moreso the reason she broke it off. Was she bad in bed, was she annoying, repulsive, untrustworthy, did she talk too much? She would never know. Every time Regina ran into her on the streets like clockwork, she either ignored her or told her to watch where she was walking. She absolutely hated the sharp ice she received, even after their brief fling.

Regina, as always, loved the way she could make the schoolteacher squirm. She could make her pant heavily, blush profusely, or slowly rile her up.

Today, Mary Margaret came to her office in an angered hurry.

"Why did you end it? What repulsed you so much? It's been eating me up and I can't let it go."

"For reasons I don't care to explain to you," she replied coldly. Mary rolled her eyes.

"You know, you're a very angering woman."

"I've had worse things said about me," she muttered. Mary huffed.

"Fine. I hope you're happy to suffer alone." Regina,s head snapped up.

"Better to be alone than with you, Miss Blanchard, so much so that I'm sure you're familiar with the schools grading system, so go grade tests or something instead of wasting my time." Mary stood in the room silence for a second.

"If you don't know what that means, let me simplify. Leave. Or do I need to replace you, clearly you can't listen to an order."

"For your information, I'm very good at my job."

"Really? Are your lesson plans drawn in crayons?"

"If you want, I can show you them." Regina felt a hint of shock at the sliver of Snow White's personality shine through during their argument.

"I'm sure you will," she whispered to herself, too quiet for the other woman to hear.

"Bring them tomorrow." Mary Margaret nodded and swiftly left, barely hiding the heat to her ears and cheeks. She was absolutely furious, but also slightly enamoured.


	3. I Miss Your Warmth

**Please send feedback and let me know what I can improve on. I hope you enjoy!**

Just as Regina expected, the next day Mary Margaret stormed into her office, set down the Manila folders containing her lessons, and completely surprised her by yanking her towards her by the collar of her shirt into a searing hot kiss.

"Miss Blanchard, What do you think you're doing?"

"You haven't stopped by and haven't called me."

"Well, I'm very busy." Mary Margaret remained standing in front of the woman until she had to hint to her that she needs to leave by pointing to the door. Mary Margaret sighed loudly but left.

She's never done that before, Mary Margaret has never been the aggressor. Come to think of it, she can't fathom a time when she _was _being kissed. Regina had a hold on her, a dangerous hold that she should extract herself from. But she can't, she hasn't had this kind of attention from anyone; she was relishing the feeling, but she would never admit it to herself.

As she walked to the school, she tried not to make eye contact with anyone, but it only made her situation worse. Acting guilty with no one suspecting anything will surely gather unwanted attention from _someone. _So she straightened her posture and continued walking, greeting the citizens she walks past with a faked confidence and a cracked resolve.

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Mary was readying dinner when Regina burst through the door without the decency to knock. She strode to Mary standing over a pot of boiling noodles and tugged her sharply back. Without turning her around, she unbuttoned her way up her shirt.

"Regina, what are you doing," Snow said. Regina growled into her ear and ripped the shirt off her milky white shoulders. Mary whimpered lightly.

"I thought you said you were busy."

"Shut up and turn around."

They had found themselves on her couch, Regina getting up and Mary running her hands through her hair nervously.

Thankfully, before tangling themselves up, Mary removed the noodles from the heat. They were long past the ideal temperature. Steadying her breathing, Mary Margaret collected her clothes. Regina went over to her pot of pasta and popped a noodle into her mouth.

"Needs sauce," she muttered.

"I've got some." Snow pulled out a container of pre-made sauce and put it in the microwave. Regina sat on her counter beside the sink and Mary sat behind her on a stool. They ate their cold dinner let the silence consume them.

"What is this?" Snow broke the silence like a dagger to a rubber band stretched thin. "What is it?"

"Honestly, a relationship, if you want it to," Regina said, turning around to Snow and the small hurt in her ecstatic green eyes.

"You said you didn't want one, a relationship."

"Yes, well, things change, dear," Regina said guilefully. Mary was wrong to ignore the nagging feeling that ate at her when Regina spoke mysteriously, time will certainly tell.

"We still need to be a _little _secretive, I have a reputation to hold with my kids."

"What?"

"Well, I can't exactly parade around with you on my arm, I don't want any of the kids in my class to know I'm dating a _woman. _It certainly won't look good to parents."

"We don't have to _hide _it," Regina said in a lower tone than she expected,"we just won't _flaunt _it,"

"But-"

"-it won't hurt your reputation, I promise. I understand, I'm sure there will be some parents that aren't open to their children being subject to a relationship such as ours, but I'm sure they'll get over it." Mary thought then nodded.

"Okay." Mary grabbed her hand from across the table and Regina pulled away slightly. Regina climbed off the counter and was heading for the door.

"Do you want to stay over," Mary Margaret asked.

"School day tomorrow, remember?"

"Right. Goodnight." Regina didn't respond and left her plate of half eaten pasta on the counter.

She erases everything I've ever known, Mary Margaret thought. Takes away the smallest sliver of power she has, but it's there, except when Regina is around. She towers over her and makes her head spin and her blood pound and it's dizzying, it's terrifying, it's so easy to get lost in the tormenting splendour of it all, the icy heat, the horrible, terrible, gratifying, resplendent idea of her torturing, dreadful love. It was awfully magnificent.

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She was softening. This can't happen. The entire point of her schemes was to be stoic in the face of Mary's wounded, tormented soul shattered as she breaks out in tears when she repeatedly hurts her. Now, she's enjoying a picnic in the woods with her. It was all for show, she thought. Soon I will get what I want when she is isolated from her friends and begging for me to stop.

They were more public now that Mary was manipulated into doing so. At least Regina likes to _think _she was manipulated. Everyone avoided them both like the plague and gave the most menacing of glares. You'd think a kingdom of werewolves and dwarves could get over a little homophobia, Regina thought.

She knew it broke Mary's heart, being tossed aside when she finally found something she wanted, but she thought she was good at hiding it. She didn't want to have their date in town, for the fear of being confronted, so they found a spot as isolated as this town could allow.

She had packed snacks, but didn't feel like eating. Instead, she sat daydreaming on their picnic blanket looking at the trees above them both.

"I can't believe people could just cast us aside like that," Mary murmured.

"It'll be fine. They'll get over their petty homophobia and realize that we're happy. If not, then they'll just have to turn their heads when they see us." Mary turned her head and smiled.

"Yes. At least we're happy. I hope they will, get over it." Regina almost laughed and said that she hoped they all hated her, but swallowed her protest.

"We should go back," Regina whispered.

"Not just yet," Mary Margaret whispered. She crawled across the blanket on all fours and pulled Regina by her collar.

"No, I'm not having sex on the dirt, outside."

"We're on a blanket," Mary Margaret whispered. Regina crossed her arms and stood up.

"C'mon, how about in the car."

"That's almost as bad."

"Then when?"

"Well, you could drive me back to your loft." Mary Margaret nodded and climbed into her station wagon. She drove them to the loft and had struggled to unlock her door with Regina pressing up against her back, whispering.

"You're mine." Snow almost shivered, but her desire replaced the cold shiver through her nerves with a burning heat pooling in her belly.

She was breathing heavily when they finally burst through the door and Mary was slammed into the door with such force that it took more air out of her lungs.

"I'm yours," Mary Margaret breathed into Regina's ear, then sucked her earlobe lightly. Regina tried biting back a moan, but it escaped through her teeth. Mary bit her lip and pulled back to let Regina kiss her with a white-hot passion that burns through her tongue and scathes her heart.

They didn't make it to the bed again. Instead, Regina took Snow against the door, and the wall.

Snow was fixing Regina a cup of coffee while she sat on the couch looking around.

"You're apartment is very…humble," she uttered when she sat down next to her and handed her a mug.

"Well, not everyone lives in a mansion." It was true, but her words still made her blood boil. Anything that came out of Mary Margaret's mouth made her blood boil.

It was hard not to refer to Mary Margaret as Snow, despite their personalities being so different, thanks to my curse. But sometimes, little pieces of Snow would break through for a moment without the other woman knowing, but her stubbornness was always short lived.

Once Mary was settled, she inched closer to Regina, little by little, until she was nestled into her shoulder and had her arms around her waist. Immediately, Regina got up.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I just…I was cold"

"Sorry, I was j-" Regina found herself without words again once Mary clung to her. She was softening, most definitely. She would surely fix that, before things got out of hand. As mother always said, love is weakness.

Slowly, she snaked her arms around her in return and Mary Margaret hugged her tighter. Making sure the woman wasn't looking, she smiled softly.

That was the first time her heart got a little less darker and her soul a little less cold and bitter.


	4. As Close To Sympathy As I Get

**Please send feedback on this chapter, and I hope you enjoy!**

Mary Margaret was even more awful than Snow was. At least Snow _tried _to fight her. Mary Margaret would just accept that she was powerless. She would yield to her without Regina asking. It was nice, until she actually sunk her teeth into her.

It was hard not to suffocate her with one of her ugly throw pillows decorating her even uglier loft. Instead, she strung her along, she shut her down, and made sure that she was accepting every bit of her unidentified torment. Soon would come the real fun.

Snow was being isolated from the independent society of their little town. People turned the other way, cringe in disgust, and even shame her if she was dealing with someone of the sort; if she wasn't developing a relationship, she would've done it herself. Her kids didn't seem to mind, only the stray few of them would've known anyway from angry parents.

The small part in her brain untouched by magic and evil felt bad for her. She could understand what it felt like to have everyone collectively hate her. And over someone you were dating. It wasn't unusual to see a couple like them, but not exactly common.

Mary Margaret refused to leave her home when she didn't have to. She thought she was being dramatic, but she heard the voicemails of people complaining, shaming, and threatening to take her job.

Regina knew she was feeling down, and as a one-time thing, bought her a pie. When she entered her loft, she was sat on the couch sideways with her knees to her chest and her head in her hands, with an empty mug on the table. Something was seriously wrong with Mary Margaret if she didn't immediately put a dirty dish into the sink.

"I'm sorry people are being so shitty," Regina said. Mary Margaret looked up to her with red, puffy eyes made more green with tears. She picked up the mug and put it in the sink, all while staring at the woman on the couch. "You don't deserve this."

"I know. That's why it hurts so much. Everyone in town hates me because I'm dating a woman." Regina nodded and took a knife from the knife block to cut the pie. "No one's saying anything to _you _about it. They're too afraid." Regina would've dropped the knife if it was any other day, no matter how true it may be.

"Are you afraid of me," Regina asked.

"…I think people I see something in you that others don't," she said cautiously. She took her irrelevant answer as a yes. Regina brought her plate of pie to her and sat down under the blankets with her. Mary Margaret eyed her skeptically, but welcomed the added warmth.

Sitting closer to her, she could now see the sweatpants and pajama shirt she was wearing. Regina reluctantly slid closer to her and held her hands.

"I got you pie. Berry."

"Did Granny drug it?"

"If she did I'll have her heart on a platter." Snow smiled weakly at the strange act of endearment. Regina took a bite from her own slice of pie.

Mary Margaret didn't know she could care even slightly about her. It was minuscule in contrast to her blunt rudeness, but she would take it. She would take anything at this point. Even if it was possibly-drugged pie and an awkward silence when she held her hand.

"I'm sorry, I understand if you don't want to do this anymore," Mary Margaret apologized.

"I'll be fine, dear. I worry about you, though." Mary Margaret nodded.

"I know. I'll be fine."

"That's what they all say until they have eyes as dried from tears as yours."

"…they're not dry," Mary Margaret whispered to herself. Regina chuckled lightly.

"Why don't we do something other than feeling sorry for ourselves," Regina suggested. Mary nodded and wiped a stray tear falling from her eye.

"Thank you." Regina nodded

"Do you have any card games?"

"Well, I have Monopoly…"

"Then let's play Monopoly." Regina wanted to groan at her game choice, but she wouldn't complain, at least for now.

"Fine, but I'm banker." Mary Margaret nodded and got out from the blanket smothering her.

They played the entire game, a feat in Mary Margaret would brag to her few friends left. Sadly, she couldn't also say she beat Regina.

Soon after, they were sitting on the couch watching some rom-com they found in her little basket of VCR's. Regina was bored out of her mind, while Mary was asleep against her shoulder, sleeping peacefully, in spite of the consuming stress.

Regina wanted to push her head off her shoulder and storm out, but she was stuck in Mary's tight and burning embrace. She longed to be held like Mary holds her. She wanted to be loved like Mary wanted to. But she knows, no one can ever love a monster as ghastly as her.

She shut off the tv and carried Mary to her room. She grappled onto her blouse like a small child would, and when she put her down, she wouldn't let go. She pried her fingers off the shirt and Mary Margaret stirred.

"Goodnight, dear," Regina uttered. Mary Margaret sleepily muttered something unrecognizable and Regina left quickly.

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They had dates in her apartment now. They couldn't go out to eat at the diner without someone shooting a menacing glance at them, or have someone "accidentally" spill a drink on Mary Margaret. If she wasn't so mild, someone would be seriously injured by now.

Instead, Regina made lasagna sure to make Granny jealous and Mary Margaret rented a movie she wanted them both to watch without falling asleep.

Instead, they made out on the kitchen counter with cookie batter covering their clothes and the movie playing in the background.

Snow was breathing heavily close to Regina's ear, just as the kitchen timer went off. She giggled before hopping off the counter to grab oven mitts and check on the cookies.

"Two more minutes," Snow declared.

"Must you be so loud," Regina complained.

"Yes. Now we should watch the movie, I rented it to watch it, not kiss you with it playing in the background."

"And why not? I have the right to kiss you, you know." Mary rolled her eyes.

"How about after," she whispered. Regina thought mockingly for a minute, then nodded.

"Have people been better," Regina asked.

"I think so. Our time in the gossip mill has run it's course with some new story, brought to us by none other than Sidney Glass."

"What's so wrong about Sidney?"

"He writes the articles in the newspaper, but it's never any _actual important _news. It's always just gossip or small news stories. Plus, he's in love with you."

"Is someone…jealous," Regina mocked.

"No, he just gets on my nerves is all."

"I see…" Mary Margaret heard the timer go off once more and she went to the kitchen to check on them, while Regina sat in an armchair watching the movie. Mary Margaret came back with two cookies in her hands. Regina took one.

"So what even is this?"

"Have you not been paying attention," she asked in a voice she clearly used when teaching.

"No, I've been _busy." _Mary laughed.

"Do you want me to rewind it?"

"Yes please."

She didn't even pay attention even after Mary started it. She would stare off somewhere, or look at Mary Margaret watching the show.

After it was over, she immediately pounced her from the armchair on the other side of the coffee table, pressing her into the chair's cushions while biting at her neck and bottom lip. She carried her to the bedroom and deposited her down on the edge.

"My, someone's eager tonight," she murmured. Regina only grinned and slightly growled in response, while pulling off her rosy pink cardigan, kissing down the trail of skin being uncovered.

——————————

The next morning, she immediately phoned Sidney once she got home.

"I don't want you writing about me and Mary Margaret in your paper. Find something, anything else.

"Why, you told me to write about it just two weeks ago?"

"Yes, well that's for me to know and you to mind your business." She hung up and collapsed onto her couch in the study, pouring herself a glass of whiskey.

She didn't have to ask Sidney twice, nobody was dumb enough to even give a second thought to Regina's orders. That's probably what she liked most about being mayor, the power over the town of hers.

She didn't always want the power, she tried to fight it. To fight the darkness, the magic, the pull they both had on her. She wished she could have a pull on Mary Margaret like that.

She was so close to having her in her manicured clutches. She was already isolated and ashamed by the other town's residents, all she had to do was make her believe anything she tells her. It won't be hard, that much is clear. She just has that one part of her brain -The one that told her to feel bad for Mary Margaret- still talking. She didn't know what was right and what was wrong. All she knew was to obliterate Snow White, if it was the last thing she'd ever do. but maybe it didn't have to be like that, the small and steady voice in her brain said. maybe they were right, but you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Same goes for Evil Queens.


	5. I've Reached My Breaking Point

**Please send feedback and I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Mary Margaret is not being raped. She may not know of Regina's true intentions with her, but their intercourse is 100% consensual, so please stop complaining that Regina is raping Mary. I'm sorry if my writing led you to believe so, but this is not rape. **

She was in too deep, Regina knew. In sinking her teeth into Mary Margaret, she managed to get herself roped in as well. It had to stop, she knew. Even as the anniversary of Daniel's death was coming, she could only boil in her hate until she was red-hot and fuming with hatred.

Mary Margaret has no idea the things Regina thought or intended. All she knew was that their relationship was complicated and Regina was always the one to show she had control. She would be the one to cancel dates, to leave before getting to the good part in their date, or leaving as soon as Mary falls asleep. She was always in control, but not like this.

Regina walked into the diner to find Mary in the farthest corner, where almost no one could see her. The judgement had died down and the gossip mill had spit them out again. Regardless, even a few more opinionated people really wanted to show their true feelings towards them.

"Hi," Mary Margaret greeted a little too cheerily for her liking. Regina nodded slightly at her then sat down. She fiddled with the ring on her finger while Mary Margaret looked through the menu, pretending to be distracted.

"How was your day," Mary asked.

"Fine."

"I didn't have any parents come in and complain to me."

"That's wonderful." Mary could tell something was off. She was unfocused, distant, and cold to her. Regina knew she deserved it, but Mary Margaret didn't have the faintest idea what was going on.

"What happened at work?"

"The usual."

"Which is…"

"Paperwork." Mary Margaret sighed softly, nearly inaudible.

"What's wrong," Regina almost demanded.

"Why are you being so weird all of a sudden."

"I'm not being weird."

"Yes you are, you seem…distracted." Mary Margaret waited for an answer, but instead got Ruby asking for their orders. She scribbled them on her notepad and left before she became the victim to Regina's burst of anger.

"Please tell me what's going on."

"Why do you deserve to know."

"Because maybe I can help you."

"No, you can't. You could never help me," she threatened in little more than a whisper. Mary Margaret recoiled in hurt, then quickly rebounded.

"Why not?"

"Because you're you, now can we talk about this later?" Mary Margaret bowed her head in defeat and nodded lightly.

Mary Margaret tried desperately to meet Regina's icy gaze that looked around the diner every few seconds, if she wouldn't. It was like someone pulled a switch in her brain, automatically building up her walls in a matter of seconds.

——————————

Regina tugged at Mary Margaret's wrists forcefully, digging her nails into her skin. She yelped then pulled her hands back towards her body, not at all breaking their kiss. Regina has kissed Mary many times before, none of them could compare to this. She was desperately tugging at the bottom of Mary's lips, forcing her way into her mouth. She was always passionate like that, but not like this.

Regina threw her onto the couch with more force than necessary. Mary hit her head on the back of the couch, but quickly recovered in time to pull Regina down with her. She leant her head back as Regina bit her way down to Mary Margaret's clavicle and unbuttoned her flowery blouse.

"Stop for a moment," Mary ordered half-heartedly. Regina reluctantly pulled back to catch a glimpse at Mary's swollen red lips. "What are you doing?"

"I'm kissing you. What does it look like I'm doing."

"No, not that. What is _this? _You're not acting like yourself."

"Would that not be a welcome change, dear?"

"Well, you just seem more…eager than before."

"I thought you'd like it," she growled against her skin. She went back to digging through Mary's blouse and ripped the rest of the shirt open. The scattering buttons on the floor and Mary's panting was the only thing that could be heard in the small loft.

"Regina, we can't do this. I need to grade papers tonight and I have an early morning."

"Well then, I can make it quick." She gently pulled Mary Margaret's bra straps down her shoulders and unclasped her bra.

"I mean it, I have to be up early." Regina looked up and dramatically rolled her eyes.

"You'll be fine, dear. I'm sure you have enough turtlenecks anyway," she whispered. She couldn't bring herself to make her stop when it felt so good, so she succumbed to the darkness she was kissed by, and embraced it.

——————————

The only thing Mary Margaret remembered when she woke up was their date. Regina had already left, but she could smell her scent on the cotton sheets.

It all came back to her when she pulled back the covers and saw her own body. Purple marks ran up and down her legs and stomach. She rushed to the mirror beside her closet and saw the extent of her evening on her ivory skin. Reddened scratches were easy to see on her back and neck and it hurt to stand up. Crescent-shaped breaks were engraved on her hip bones, and when she saw her face, makeup was smudged, and there were faint signs of dried tears on her scarlet cheeks.

Regina was never violent, except for that night. Sure she was mean, but never physically harmful to her. She rubbed at her marks and dressed in the most unrevealing clothes she owned.

The worst part of it all was she didn't mind any of it, other than hiding the marks from the already eagle-eyed residents, it was the best sex she ever remembered having. Though she wouldn't ever admit it, she liked Regina when she was dark and brooding, it scared her more when she was relatively calm and forgiving.

What she didn't think fair, was that Regina didn't have any marks on her body. Mary Margaret was always too gentle and she hoped it didn't take away from her. Not that she'd ever let Mary touch her more than a few times, but that didn't matter.

All through the day she ached. She had gotten good at keeping her soreness from her students, but it was hard when coworkers were eyeing the suspiciously positioned turtleneck or the way she walked with her legs slightly more open.

When she got to the diner after school, she was surprised to see no one gossiping about her or Regina, or even paying attention or shuffling away when they noticed her at the counter with a hot chocolate.

It was after Regina came in that they tried to ignore them.

"Hi," Mary Margaret said. Nervousness pricked her voice and shot it up about three octaves. Regina fed on her nervousness and begged for more.

"Hello, dear. How was your day?"

"Fine," she lied, tapping her fingers on the brim of her second hot chocolate. Normally she would've been healthier and asked for a water and a homemade granola bar, but Regina always made her uneasy, and when she was uneasy, she was hungry. Regina leaned in closer to her until her mouth was breathing hot air against her ear.

"Are you sure," she whispered. Mary shivered.

"No." Regina pulled back and grinned with all the pride rushing to her smile.

"Good to hear."

"May I ask, why were you so…"

"Forceful," Regina offered.

"Forceful, last night."

"Because I wanted something and I will do whatever it takes to get it."

"What was it that you wanted," Mary Margaret played along.

"You screaming my name in pain and desire." Mary Margaret stopped thrumming her fingers on the mug and took a bite of the untouched cookie sitting in front of her. Her body silently shook and quaked with the same lust Regina drained from her.

"Nervous?"

"…yes and no." Regina laughed melodically, a sound Mary never hears often, but one that still hums in her body long after.

Regina loved the power Mary handed to her immediately. This was the power she wanted in the Enchanted Forest, to be able to replace her poor Prince Charming with herself. Mary Margaret has just made it so much easier for her.

"Come back to my mansion," Regina offered sultrily. She knew Mary Margaret would perceive it as a question, but knew it was an order.

"Um, I um…sure." Regina grinned wider.

Mary Margaret has never been offered into her mansion before, the only time she's been in there was when she would storm over there and rant about Regina's unending complaints about her horrid teaching to the school board.

Regina offered an arm to her, which Mary graciously took to steady her dizzying head. Around them, small whispered sounded and people glanced in their direction, unable to take their eyes off the couple. Regina craved their attention.

Mary Margaret was excited but tense. She didn't think she could handle Regina after a second night and even more marks to possibly scar. When hey pulled up at the large white house, Mary didn't get out at first. Regina opened her door for her.

"I won't be so rough with you tonight, if you want," she assured. Mary Margaret nodded and unbuckled her seat belt.

The entryway was gorgeous. The floor in front of her was wide open and the floors reflected the light of the chandelier hanging above them. The staircase leading to the second floor wound up and around, and there were two rooms off to the side. Regina led her through the one to the left, with a leather couch in the centre and a minibar to her right. A desk was pushed up near the window and she immediately knew this was her office.

"Have a seat," Regina said,"what are you drinking?"

"Um, whatever you're having." Mary Margaret muttered. Regina poured them to glasses of bourbon and sat beside her. They both found themselves speechless.

"Can you tell me what brought on last night," Mary Margaret asked for the thousandth time.

"Quit asking me," she growled warningly. Mary Margaret ignored her angry pleas.

"It's just that you've never been like that, and I'm wanting to make sure you're…"

"I said _quit it._" Mary Margaret stopped rambling and took a large sip from her glass. It burned its way down her throat and she gasped faintly at the unfamiliar sensation.

"Please just tell me why you're on edge, this isn't like you."

"You know _nothing _about me. You need to leave."

"I was just trying to…"

"_Leave." _She had to stop herself from threatening Snow White with magic, and pulled her off the couch and dug her nails into the skin on her wrist and pulling her.

"Regina, let go of me." As if being controlled by a puppet, Regina let go and watched her storm out of the house. When she knew she was gone, she pulled the ring off her finger and gazed at Daniel's face.

"I will destroy her, if it is the _last _thing I do," she murmured to herself in her fit of rage. It was all her fault; if only it were that simple.


	6. Soften The Rough Edges

**This chapter is gonna be darker than the previous chapters, but trust me, it's for a purpose. Let me know if you would be open to the rating changing and things getting a little _smuttier._ ****Thank you for all the feedback. I hope you enjoy! **

On this day, years ago, Daniel was killed out of cold blood. Anything Mary Margaret did angered Regina. She had been avoiding the snivelling schoolteacher, she shot her down each time she asked her to do anything with her, and she even debated breaking her heart.

She couldn't go there yet, she still had plans for her. She didn't want to hurt her, she wanted to destroy her. Leave her whimpering for more, even if she was sore and stiff as a stick. She wanted to be her drug, an addiction she couldn't kick out of her system.

Regina was finishing work and left her home office, dusting off her skirt before making her way to her liquor cabinet. She poured herself a glass of wine and sat on a leather armchair near the fireplace.

Ten seconds after sitting down, someone knocked on her door, and she knew it was Mary Margaret right away, by the way her knock was loud yet shy, three firm knocks. She was learning things about Mary that she didn't want to know. She grumbled before she tensed her sore muscles and stood up, sashaying to open the door.

"Mary Margaret," she grumbled. Mary Margaret couldn't hide the disappointment in hearing her name said with such disgust from her…whatever she thought they were.

"Regina," she said softly, before slipping in between Regina and the door and removed her coat in the house.

"I never said you could come in, did I?" Mary shook her head and went back outside with her feet touching the door frame.

"I thought I would come and see you. I haven't seen you in a week," she babbled on, her voice fading as she realized Regina wasn't paying attention to her.

"Fine," she interrupted, before aside and leading her to the kitchen. They sat down at her kitchen island in front of her scattered papers and pens. Regina poured her a glass of wine from the open bottle on the island.

"Work must be busy," Mary Margaret commented.

"Well, I don't have anything else going on, dear." Mary grabbed a black pen and flicked it between her thumb and forefinger.

"What did you want, again?"

"I…wanted to see you."

"Mm, why's that."

"Because a parent complained to me today and I just didn't want to be alone."

"Maybe you deserved it," Regina murmured. Mary Margaret drew back in slight shock.

"What?"

"You're not the only one with problems."

"Are you okay, did something happen to you?"

"Nope, I'm just seeing clearer," she said to herself so Mary Margaret couldn't hear her.

"So, how is work," Mary Margaret said in a trembling, squeaky voice she speaks in whenever she's nervous.

"Take a guess," Regina said, taking a sip of her wine as she gestured towards the stacks of documents.

"What kinds of-"

"Shut up." Mary Margaret closed her slightly open mouth and looked down at the pen. Yet, she ignored her warning.

"Well-"

"I said _shut up,"_ Regina growled, pulling her off the chair and against the nearest wall, holding her by her throat.

"You never do follow instructions, do you," Regina asked Mary's frightful and bulging eyes. She shook her head in Regina's grip. Regina kissed Mary Margaret hard, more ferociously and more primally than Mary had ever seen her. Regina's tongue slipped lazily over Mary Margaret's, biting down occasionally and waiting for her to gasp in shock and slight pain. When Mary Margaret's lips were red and swollen, Regina pulled her by the wrist onto the armchair she was sitting in near the fireplace.

Regina climbed on top and bit Mary's neck, down to her collarbone hidden by her blouse.

"Regina, why ar-"

"You never learn, do you," Regina commented, before pulling her face up and slapping her right across the face. Mary Margaret whimpered helplessly as she continued to grind on Regina.

"Even after slapping you, you're still seeking release. Why is that?" Mary Margaret went against everything her body told her to do and answered.

"Because maybe you're darkness is what I need," she said breathlessly. Regina cackled and sunk her hands down lower.

——————————

Mary Margaret didn't remember barely anything about that last night, other than her beautiful torture and Regina's malice-filled smile. When she sat up from her bed, everything come flooding back to her. The marks on her body only confirmed it. Bruises covered her hips, neck, ass, and breasts, her legs ached whenever she stood up, and she felt like throwing up.

If she had gone on a school night, she would've been screwed, but luckily, it was a Saturday, giving herself a little more time to recover and get comfortable on sitting on a chair again. It was a little before noon before she felt herself grow nauseous, and vomited for the rest of the day.

She had never seen such blackness in anyone's eyes before. The raw anger in her terrified her. That was all the more reason to do it.

She wouldn't lie, it hurt, but it felt so amazing. Sure, she wouldn't be able to keep down any food or get up from her bed other than to throw up, but that was all worth it.

She had checked her voicemail, and Regina's number appeared on the screen.

_I hope you had fun last night and I hope I didn't hurt you too much. I know I had a lot of fun. Call me later. _Her voice rang out brought the apartment, before shutting off again. Her apartment fell silent, and she collapsed to the floor. She knew what she was getting tangled into when asking Regina on a date, but it never occurred to her that she could love her and hurt her so much.

She was sobbing on the floor with her head in her hands when Regina came into the loft unannounced. She immediately wrapped her up in warm arms and held her shaking body. She didn't know why she was here, or how she knew she was sobbing with her face in her hands and her aching body crumpled on the floor.

"I'm so sorry," Regina murmured into her ear, just above the bruise left from the night before. Mary Margaret only nodded before slumping back against her in exhaustion. She didn't realize how exhausted she was when she stopped thinking about her and throwing up.

"It's not you," she insisted through tears, but she didn't finish before she ran to the bathroom once more. Regina didn't follow her, only waited behind on the floor, with a sopping wet spot on her shoulder where Mary Margaret was crying.

She was an idiot for thinking she should be here with Mary Margaret. On any other day, she would've left her to fend for herself through whatever she was going through, but today, she knew she pushed her too hard, too soon. She tried convincing herself she was there to make sure she was okay. It worked, for the most part.

Mary came back, but instead of settling back on the floor, she pulled Regina off the floor and into her bedroom. She didn't feel comfortable in there when she wasn't digging her fingers into Mary's jeans, but all of that was gone when she could smell Mary Margaret's coconut shampoo beside her, pulling the floral sheets over both of them.

She wasn't sure what time it was when she left, but Mary Margaret was long finished crying into her black blazer.

"I'm sorry," Mary Margaret called out to Regina's back. She turned around at once and looked genuinely perplexed.

"Why are you saying sorry?"

"Because I'm wasting your time. You told me before not to waste your time." Regina smiled tenderly. Only the good and pure Snow White could apologize for wasting Regina's time after being tossed and thrown around the room multiple times with claws digging into her skin.

"I'll let it slip," she said jokingly, before leaving. Maybethis wasn't the way to go with hurting her. She couldn't stand the thought of tearing her to shreds like that again, but all she could think was _dammit Snow White. You made me soft and weak. _But now, she didn't mind it as much. Maybe she liked it. Maybe it was time to move on from Daniel, from Cora, from revenge. Or maybe she could find another way.

That could wait, though, as the schoolteacher's sleeping body curled itself into a ball, whimpering softly in her sleep, she couldn't leave her now.

She went back to the bed and wrapped her arms back around Mary Margaret's shoulders, Easing her warmth back across her stomach.

Forgiveness was in the cards for her. She could learn from her mistakes, the mistakes that cost her everything, and settle for Mary Margaret instead.

She didn't want to find out right now, she was too busy watching Mary Margaret's face smile tenderly in her sleep. Her chest rose up and down and her body was warm all over. Regina cooked closer to her and let sleep consume her.


	7. You Were Supposed To Love Me

**Warning: Trigger warning for child and implied sexual abuse! Please send feedback, and I hope you enjoy! **

**I hope you all have been staying safe and washing your hands. Schools have been cancelled for the moment, word is going around that they're starting back up in September, so I have an awful lot of time on my hands to write, so I can get chapters out quicker. Again, stay safe and be alert, not anxious. Love you all!  
**

Mary Margaret was still confused as to why Regina acted the way she acted that night. She was never herself if she wasn't irritated with everyone's incompetency, but Mary Margaret never thought of her as _violent. _It wasn't really surprising, but it was unexpected and slightly terrifying. She remembers what it was like to be on the receiving end of her bad moods.

Her bruises were nearly healed, and so was her heart. Regina was always busy, but she was better at communicating with her, and she hasn't been angry _at _her since that night, and she's clearly made sure that Mary Margaret knew she was sorry. That was something, at least.

"Regina, can I talk to you," Mary Margaret asked.

"Sure, I can have the house cleaned up in five," Regina answered over the crackling static of the phone.

"Okay, see you then." Mary Margaret hung up the phone and smoothed out her pink dress. She pulled at her cardigan and slipped on her shoes.

She didn't have to knock, Regina was already at the door waiting for her. Mary Margaret slipped past Regina and held her hands in front of her, twisting the green ring on her finger.

"What did you want to talk about," Regina asked, biting her bottom lip and filing the last of her Manila folders. She loved it when Regina bit her bottom lip.

"What happened that night. The one when I came and you…"

"I don't need specifications, I know which one you're talking about, dear."

"Were you just angry at someone else, or was it something I did?"

"It's…complicated, too complicated to explain."

"Try."

"Excuse me?"

"Try to explain. Please. For the past week, I've been convincing myself that I _did _something to you, it I don't know what it was I did, so if you could tell me-"

"Like I said, it's complicated."

"Please, Gina. For me. I want to know. I wouldn't ask this of you if it wasn't a _necessity _to me. I deserve this much."

"No," Regina whispered,"you deserve so much more. More than I can give you."

"Don't be like that. If I didn't deserve you, I wouldn't be here. I would've been long gone, so please. Tell me. Let me carry a bit of the weight you're carrying on your shoulders."

"Do you really want to know?"

"With all my heart." Regina took a steadying breath and closed her eyes, slowing moving to sit on the couch.

"It's just that, I've never told this to anyone and I need a second."

"Take your time. I'm here for you." Regina looked up at Mary Margaret, now sitting on the armrest of the chair Regina was on, with curiosity and gratefulness.

"Really," she asked with wonder. Her face broke her heart.

"Of course."

"Well, um…I didn't have the best of home lives," she started, her sentence drifting off. When Mary's gaze didn't falter, she continued.

"My father loved me very much, but he never defended me."

"From what?"

"My mother."

——————————

The fields smelled like springtime. Fresh dew still settling in the cold morning air and the smell of her horse she was sitting atop of. Cora rarely let her ride Rocinante, now that she's maturing. Instead, Regina was knee-deep in books, assignments, and due dates. At least she had the early mornings to ride, but even then, she has to wake up before the sun rises to get in enough time for riding.

"Goodnight, Rocinante," she whispered to the horse, shutting the gate in the stable as quietly as she could manage. She sprinted back to the castle, hand fisted in her hair, untangling it from the intricate weave running down her back.

She told the maids and knight's not to tell her mother of her absence, but she always has her ways.

"Regina, how nice of you to join me," Cora said from the middle of the room.

"Mother," she choked out. "What are you doing here?" Regina walked over to her mother, arms crossed and eyebrows furled in irritation.

"I was just about to ask, what were you doing out there?" She pointed to hallway out the open door.

"I was just…well, I was-"

"-Save it, I know all about your excursions in the early morning."

"Mother, I was just about to-" Regina was stopped by Cora's hand raising in the air, bringing her neck along with it. She gasped and struggled for air through her constricting windpipe.

"I don't want you going outside without my permission. Is that clear?"

"But mother, I-"

"Is that clear," she asked further, tightening her hands before dropping Regina to the floor. She want done with her yet, though. Her long nails dug into Regina's cheeks, squeezing them together uncomfortably.

"You're absolutely worthless. I hope you know that. I hope you live with that, knowing that you were never enough." She pushed her to the floor and dug a high heel into her back.

"You will learn to _never _defy," she said. Regina's vision was blurry around the edges and fading in and out of black, but she remembered every bit of pain that day.

"I hope you learned your lesson. You will never talk back, and you are not allowed outside, apunless I say so. Understand."

"Yes, mother. I understand."

"Good. Now let mother heal you." She held her arms open to Regina. Cora had a funny way of showing Regina love, or at least what she convinced herself was love. No matter what she did, she would go back to her.

Cora hovered her fingers over Regina's bruises, scratches, and scars.

"See? Pretty girls don't show their pain."

——————————

"That was only the beginning of it," Regina said, looking at her hands, twisting around each other. "She had a funny way of showing her love, and I learned from the only love I've seen."

"Oh, Regina. I'm so sorry. Nobody deserves that kind of treatment, especially from a mother," Mary Margaret said, taking her hand and rubbing a circle over skin with her thumb.

"It's funny, I always thought she was doing what was best for me. That I deserved it, and I didn't know that what she did was so wrong until I was married to…someone else."

"I'm assuming it didn't go well?"

"It didn't last long and he didn't treat me any better- worse, actually- but I met someone who made everything more bearable."

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"You don't have to apologize, none of this was your fault. I had blamed everything on someone else after she…pushed away someone I loved very much. But I know now that I was completely wrong. I was oblivious to the damage she caused once I saw that the person I blamed didn't have bad intentions." Mary Margaret watched her with something akin to love, but she knew it wasn't; nobody could love her, after everything she did. But Mary Margaret could see right through her.

"This isn't your fault. You are still capable of loving someone, if you truly want it. And there are so many people who love you: have the _potential _of loving you." Regina snickered. The very idea made her want to drill screws into her head with the amount of thought and emotions that required.

"Right. Who?"

"You're looking at her." There was a glint of hope in Mary's eyes, of concern, of adoration, of authenticity, of the love she's yearned for. She broke out into tears.

"Oh, honey. You're okay. You're completely safe with me. I would never hurt you. I promise."

"Promise," Regina asked for confirmation. She sounded so small and sweet.

"I promise, with all my heart." A new wave of tears washed over her. She wasn't sad, not really. Sure, it was horrible digging up those memories buried along with her past life, but the prospect of love. The possibility of the happy ending she's wanted since the beginning, with the woman she vowed she would hate until the last beat of her broken, dying heart.

She wasn't overwhelmed with pity for herself, no. She was crying because she found herself lucky. She had the woman who's death would've brought her joy, but instead, her life has brought joy, her happiness, and her devotion. Her tears weren't filled with sadness. They were filled with relief.

"I love you," Regina said. Mary Margaret blinked for a second.

"You do?"

"I think I do. I never knew someone as horrible as me could find love with someone who deserved someone so much better than me, but I did. I might've had a hard past, but I'm ready for the future. Hopefully, you're included in it."

"I'd be more than happy to be. I love you too." A new stream of tears flowed down both their red cheeks. Regina pulled Mary Margaret off the side of the couch to sit in her lap, pressing kisses all over her skin, ending wth her lips. Unlike any of their other kisses, this one was gentle. It conveyed how grateful one woman was for the other.

"I'm assuming you're starving. I have some takeout from Granny's in the kitchen, if you'd like to join me."

"I'd love to." Regina pushed Mary off her legs, then stood up to join her, grabbing onto Mary Margaret's arm for balance.

"I'm really glad you told me, Regina. It took a lot of courage to dig up the past like that."

"I'm glad too." Regina led Mary Margaret into the kitchen, finally accepting who she really was. She wasn't only broken anymore, she had love to put the pieces back together. It'll take a lot of hard work and undoubted self-loathing, but she was ready for whatever the future holds, and she wasn't lying when she said she couldn't wait to see where that took the both of them. Right now, she was enough.


	8. Strange Bliss

**Okay, I didn't actually notice this until now, but I have written twenty different stories! (Celebration!) Thank you all so much, so many of you have been great to me and told me what you liked and what you didn't. I am so bored and I need story ideas, so please send some prompts or story ideas you want to see. I'm so excited to hopefully write more fan fictions in the future and keep going with this passion for writing! Please send feedback and I hope you enjoy! Stay safe, I love you all!**

Regina was fragile. She poured everything she had into Mary Margaret, and she slowly started to believe she might be deserving of the other woman's love. All the while, Mary Margaret never made her doubt it for a second. She was there whenever Regina needed her.

Mary Margaret never expected the mayor to be so different from what she made herself out to be. She was still snappy and harsh to the other residents of Storybrooke, but she was learning how to love. All the time, Mary Margaret expected to wake up from this strange dream and go right back to Regina pestering and nearly harassing her. Regina assured her that she wasn't dreaming, just as Mary Margaret assured Regina that she loved her.

Mary Margaret sat on the couch, torn between watching Regina chew on the cap of her pen in thought, and focusing on the assignments in front of her. It seemed Regina was torn too. She noticed Mary Margaret's gaze lingering, and bit harder, smiling behind the pen and scrunching her nose seductively. Mary Margaret quickly shot her gaze downward and blushed heavily.

"Like what you see, princess?" Mary Margaret giggled.

"Possibly," Mary drawled. _Two can play at that game, _she thought.

"Would you like a glass of wine?" _Damn it. _

_"_That'd be great, thanks." Mary nearly fell apart in a burst of giggling when Regina stood up, pulled her red dress down, and purposefully swayed her hips on her way to the kitchen. She bit her lip to keep from exclaiming some frustrated profanities. Regina laughed roughly. Mary Margaret could tell she was flirting by the significant drop in her voice and the melodic sound of her laugh, but that wasn't very different from her usual laugh.

Regina came back with the same sway of her hips with their wine. Instead of going back to her previous seat where mayoral documents sat, waiting for her, she inched closer to Mary Margaret, scanning the schoolteacher with dark, lustful eyes.

"No, I have to finish this. I collected these _last week, _I can't put it off anymore." Regina sighed inaudibly to herself and sat back down on the couch across from her again.

"Later?" she asked hopefully, any traces of seduction gone from her voice. Mary chuckled.

"Oh, definitely. I won't have it any other way."

"Good." Mary Margaret laughed before reluctantly straying her eyes from Regina's long, golden legs nearly at the centre of her line of sight. Regina crossed her legs and Mary Margaret let out a breathy laugh, before rolling her eyes and marking the rest of the stack of papers.

* * *

Mary Margaret basically lived here, and even had a few clothes and a toothbrush somewhere in the bedroom. She's tried convincing Regina that she wanted to leave so she can at least give Regina a bit of personal space if she wanted, but any time Mary would ask, Regina would just grab Mary's wrist and pull her into her arms, pressing kisses on her neck and telling her she didn't want her to leave. And Regina was _mighty _persuasive.

"Hey, I'm gonna go out with Ruby and Belle, if that's okay. I'll be home by twelve, maybe?" The mysterious appearance of Belle was unexpected and odd, but Belle said that Regina had helped her, whatever that means. Mary Margaret had been getting along with her well and the two made fast friends

"Home?" Mary Margaret stopped and slowly turned to face Regina. She was standing a few feet away, nursing a glass of apple cider in her delicate hands.

"Yeah. Home, I guess."

"This is home? To you?" Regina sounded awestruck, and the sound almost hurt Mary Margaret. She stepped closer to Regina and wrapped her arms around her waist. Regina was slightly shorter than Mary Margaret, which made the latter happy and it made her swoon over how adorable Regina was, just a _little bit. _She never told Regina she thought she was adorable, just in case she denied it and kicked her out.

"Of course. _You _are home, however cheesy that may sound." She felt Regina laugh against her, and a desire to stay home and hold her close built in her chest, but Regina deserved a bit of personal space after being forced to cuddle against the other woman, at least that's what Mary Margaret thought.

"Okay, go. I'm sure your friends are waiting patiently for you." Mary Margaret unwound herself from Regina and pecked her on the lips.

"Don't have fun without me," Mary said, winking.

"Did you just…"

"Yes. I did." Mary Margaret grinned and left. Ruby was outside in her Camaro, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. Belle was beside her, biting her lip and fidgeting. Belle's still new to a lot of this, and she made the wrong mistake of admitting to never being inside a bar before, which made Ruby gasp and insist that Belle go along with them.

"Hi, lovebird," Ruby teased. Belle snickered lightly.

"Shut up," I murmured. "I was just visiting."

"We all know you aren't. You aren't very public about it, but that doesn't mean nobody can read between the lines."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just drive already." Ruby giggled once more before pulling away from the curb.

Red pulled up to the Rabbit Hole, and Mary Margaret braced herself for the worst. Red opened her door and ran around to pull open Belle's. _Interesting. _

Once Mary got out of the car, she met eyes with a Ruby and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Ruby shrugged and led her in. _Very interesting. _

The bar was nearly packed, but the three managed to find a booth. They ordered their drinks and Ruby leaned across the table until she was face to face with Mary Margaret.

"So, what's going on with Mayor Mills tonight?"

"I don't want to talk about her right now. There isn't even anything to talk about. We're just dating."

"_Just_ dating?" Mary Margaret rolled her eyes blatantly.

"Yes, now please just drop it." Ruby sighed almost longingly and changed the subject.

"So where are you staying right now, Belle?" Ruby asked.

"Mr. Gold offered me his guest room, but I think I'm just gonna stay in the inn until I can afford a place of my own." Ruby's eyes lit up, but she was quick to hide her excitement. _It was endearing how obvious she's being with her interest in Belle, _Mary Margaret thought_. _She might just have to talk Ruby into asking her out. A waiter came around and handed them their drinks.

"Apple cider?" Ruby raised her eyebrows. Mary Margaret only smirked and took a sip.

"Yeah, Regina got me into it."

"You've hated apples for as long as I've known you."

"Yes, well I guess I didn't get their appeal until now." Ruby looked at Belle with her eyebrows raised, and then back to Mary.

"Seriously? You fought me for half an hour when I tried to convince you to try my apple pie. What changed?"

"Lots changed," Mary Margaret said into her drink. Belle laughed and took a hesitant sip of her sangria. Her face twisted like she bit into a lemon.

"That's…weird. And sweet. I think I like it."

"That's the weakest drink here," Ruby said. Belle furrowed her brows and took another heartier sip. "Ooh, I love this song!" Mary Margaret and Belle strained to here the music, but Ruby could hear it clearly. Ruby ran up to the counter and asked something from the bartender. He turned around and the music got louder.

"C'mon, you gotta dance with me!" Mary Margaret shook her head, but no wasn't an available option. She pulled both girls up and over to the jukebox. Mary Margaret rolled her eyes and didn't even try to dance. Belle looked a bit confused, but quickly fell into step with Ruby. Mary Margaret grinned and hopped back to the booth, watching the two giggle and dance. Ruby left Belle for a moment.

"Mary Margaret, c'mon, you have to dance. Please?" Mary Margaret sighed and watched her skeptically.

"Fine. _One song." _Ruby laughed and went back onto the middle, where people were already dancing and swaying to the music with drinks in their hands, with Mary reluctantly following and grumbling about wishing she never made that promise. Ruby giggled and coerced her into moving.

Soon her hips were swaying and she was singing the music quietly to herself, while both Ruby and Belle grew more entranced with each other. She chuckled to herself and slipped a twenty dollar bill into Red's back pocket to pay for drinks.

She shrugged her jacket back on and left. The cold air hit her face and sobered her up a decent amount. She only had two drinks, but the humid air in the bar made her a little dizzy. She walked back to Mifflin Street and looked for the spare key beside the porch.

She found the key hidden under a large rock and unlocked the door. When she entered, a musky chocolate scent blessed her nose with a smell that made her stomach grumble.

"Regina?"

"In here, dear." Mary Margaret entered the kitchen and found Regina dancing along to the radio while stirring a pot of melted chocolate.

"Hi," Mary Margaret said coyly. Regina turned around and frowned.

"I wanted it to be ready when you got home," she mumbled. I smiled.

"What are you making?"

"Chocolate cake."

"Well, I wouldn't mind helping you."

"No. Go sit down or something." I laughed and kissed her below her ear before heading upstairs for a shower. _I didn't think Regina would bake a cake. Even for _me, Mary Margaret thought.

She pulled the dress she was wearing back on and dried her hair. She went into the kitchen, where Regina was putting pieces of strawberries on top, before pouring chocolate all over it and slicing the cake.

"I wanted to join you," Regina complained.

"There's always tomorrow," Mary Margaret offered sultrily. She swept Regina's hair away from her neck and kissed her throat gently.

"Yes, I guess so." Regina turned around with a slice of cake on a plate.

"What's this for?"

"I was really bored." Mary Margaret laughed before pulling Regina with her to the table.

"I was too. Ruby and Belle were making google-y eyes at each other." Regina snickered. "But now that I'm back, and there are so many ways to keep busy…"

"Eat your cake," Regina pressed. Mary Margaret raised a brow and brought the fork to her lips. She hummed in satisfaction and kept eating. Regina grinned triumphantly and ate her own piece. She smiled shyly at Mary Margaret while the latter licked the tip of her finger clean. Mary Margaret made eye contact with her the next time she licked her finger, then her lips, and Regina used every single bit of self-control she had to wait until she was finished.

**I'm aware there isn't much plot to the story anymore, but I promise, it's coming. ;)**


	9. I Don't Scare Me Anymore

**Please send feedback, and I hope you enjoy. Stay safe, take care of yourself, love you all! Disclaimer: there's going to be a few time jumps, but they're important, I promise. **

**Three months later**

"Live with me," Regina said after emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her body. Mary Margaret was patiently laying on the bed with her arms propping her up, dressed in an old t-shirt and panties.

"What?"

"Live with me. You already spend over half your time here, and the other half is spent at the school. Move in with me," she insisted. Mary Margaret laughed.

"You want me to live with you?"

"More than anything. Please? Live with me," she said again. She pecked Mary Margaret's cheek. "Live with me," she repeated, kissing the other cheek. "Live." She kissed her nose. "With." She kissed Mary Margaret's forehead. "Me." Mary Margaret was anticipating the kiss to her lips. It was a small peck, but every one of Regina's kisses left Mary Margaret desperate for more.

"Yes. Of course I'll live with you." Regina grinned widely and tackled Mary Margaret on her back, peppering kisses all over her. Mary Margaret giggled and held the back of Regina's skull tenderly. Regina leaned back and cupped Mary's cheeks as Mary Margaret sat up.

"I love you," Regina murmured. "So much." Mary Margaret smirked.

"I love you too." Regina laughed again and pushed on her chest so Mary Margaret was laying once more.

Mary Margaret shoved the last box into the back of her car. Regina was rearranging boxes beside her, stealing cheeky glances every few minutes.

"You got the key?" Regina asked.

"Yes. I'm going to deliver the key to the pawnshop and then we can start unpacking," Mary Margaret answered. She slammed the trunk door closed and turned to Regina. Mary Margaret promised Regina that she wouldn't get too excited, but she couldn't hold back any longer. She squealed and shot her arms around Regina's waist. Regina stumbled backwards, but caught them both.

"I don't think I've ever heard a sound like that from you before," Regina remarked slyly, smirking to herself.

"Well, that's all you're getting from me," she replied.

"Not if I have anything to do with it tonight," Regina muttered. Mary laughed sultrily and hit Regina on the arm lightly before detaching herself.

"I'll see you soon," Mary Margaret said. Regina nodded and walked to her Mercedes parked across the street. Mary climbed into her own car and drove off to the pawnshop. Regina pulled away in the opposite direction.

_How could I ever hate her, _Regina thought, _when it's so easy to love her. _She knew the answer to that, but she didn't want to admit she was wrong. Maybe she could just settle for saying she never hated Snow. That's a good solution. _I can't imagine hating her now. _Because the Evil Queen found love in a world that said she didn't deserve a happy ending. _Maybe I deserve this. _

And Mary Margaret agreed. In her eyes, Regina did deserve it. She didn't know about Regina's past, but that's okay, because this curse was a fresh start. And that's exactly what she got.

Regina parked her car and went inside. She hurried up the stairs and dug through the hallway closet for the bag of rose petals she bought from Game of Thornes. She smiled and rolled her eyes at herself as she grabbed a handful of petals and threw them onto the bed.

_This is so cheesy, _she thought. But she didn't clean them up. She just gathered every candle she could find and arranged them around the bed. She heard Mary Margaret pull up and park her car, and Regina rushed downstairs for the bowl of strawberries and chocolate. It was so cliché, but Mary Margaret deserved the most cliché, romantic shit that ever existed.

The door opened and Mary Margaret threw something on the wood table near the door and ran up the stairs. Regina wiped her face and took a deep breath. She bit her lip as Mary Margaret opened the door and gasped.

"Welcome home," Regina said silkily. Mary Margaret beamed at her and laughed, before kissing Regina fiercely, between chuckles.

"This isn't like you," Mary Margaret breathed in the small gap between their mouths.

"Yes, well, I think you deserve it."

"Why do I deserve it?"

"Because. Do I need a reason?" Mary Margaret chuckled once more.

"No. But don't believe for a second that I won't do this for you at some point."

"I'll be waiting," Regina remarked as she pulled Mary Margaret into another heated kiss.

* * *

Regina grew even more paranoid as she fell deeper in love. She hadn't even thought of the curse and how it will affect both Mary Margaret and their relationship. She didn't want to lose Mary Margaret, but Rumplestiltskin said that the curse breaking was inevitable. It would be impossible for Snow White to stay with the Evil Queen when she has a Prince Charming waiting for her. The curse was a long time from breaking, but she still worried. Just because the curse had loads of time left before the bomb exploded, doesn't mean it's impossible for Mary Margaret to find out about it.

Mary Margaret knew something was wrong, but everytime she asked Regina about it, she'd just dismiss it as being tired or work-related. She didn't like seeing Regina sad, so she was in the kitchen with a recipe book in front of her, opened to the pasta section.

Her hands and hair were covered in flour, and she was standing in front of a batch of ruined lasagne noodles. She bent down and pressed her head against the cool counter and sighed. She was a great baker, but she couldn't cook for her life.

Mary Margaret stood up straight and balled up her attempt at noodles and tossed them into the trash can. The front door opened and closed, a pair of high heels walked around for a bit, and stopped when she heard the horrible music from the kitchen. Mary Margaret had her head in her hands when Regina came into the kitchen. Regina looked around at the mess, then her eyes settled on the sobbing girlfriend behind the kitchen island.

"Mary Margaret, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Mary Margaret shook her head. Regina was about to hug Mary Margaret, but Mary Margaret stopped her.

"I'm covered in flour," she said lamely.

"I don't care about flour right now." Regina pulled her in and hugged her tightly. "What happened then?"

"I can't cook," Mary Margaret sobbed loudly. Regina bit back a chuckle and pulled Mary Margaret back to the workstation, now covered in flour and pasta dough.

"What were you trying to make," Regina asked calmly.

"L-lasagne," Mary Margaret said, now much quieter.

"How about I teach you how to make it?"

"Nooooo," Mary Margaret whined. "I was going to make you dinner before you got home, and it was supposed to be really impressive cause you always cook good food." Regina really did chuckle now. "It's not funny! I was going to make you dinner, but I can't cook, so now I look pathetic."

"Hey, relax. You aren't pathetic. I'll teach you how to make the lasagna, then you can make dessert. I know you always make great desserts." Mary Margaret smiled mildly.

"I _do _make good desserts," she said proudly.

"See? You aren't pathetic, you just tried making something you haven't made before. Let me help." Mary Margaret wiped her cheeks with her forearms and nodded. "On another note, you look adorable," Regina said cheekily.

"No I'm not. I'm covered in flour and dough, My hair is sticking straight up, and I just finished crying."

"Yeah, but you're always adorable." Mary Margaret grinned.

"Even when I go like…this?" Mary Margaret pulled a strange face. Regina laughed lightly.

"Even then," she assured. "Now, your first going to want to mix the flour and eggs…"

The two women sat down at the table with their plates of lasagne, and two dozen cupcakes sitting in the oven. To repay Regina for her lasagne lessons, Mary Margaret taught her how to make cupcakes and buttercream frosting. They talked about work and the upcoming Miner's Day festival, where Mary Margaret and Regina volunteered to sell candles, and Mary Margaret make desserts for. Regina voiced her hate towards volunteering, and Mary Margaret told her that it was not only good for her image as mayor, but rewarding work for the nuns. Regina kept quiet after that. Regina wasn't the only persuasive one.

After they finished dinner, Mary Margaret pulled the cupcakes out of the oven and put the frosting into two piping bags. Regina dug around for the sprinkles Mary Margaret insisted on buying.

"Y'know, if there's any buttercream left, we can use that _later_," Mary Margaret said. Regina rolled her eyes mockingly and chuckled.

"I thought you said _I _had a dirty mind," Regina responded.

"Maybe I didn't mean it to be dirty," Mary Margaret offered.

"No, I think you did mean it like that. And I'm sure it can be arranged." Mary Margaret laughed and spooned the last of the buttercream into the piping bags. Mary checked the tops of the cupcakes.

"They should be ready for icing." Regina nodded and watched as Mary Margaret showed her how to ice the cupcakes in a swirl. She held her own piping bag and stuck out her tongue in sheer concentration. She swirled the bag around and squeezed the frosting out of the bag. The swirl of frosting fell to one side and onto the counter.

"How do you do it so well?!" Regina asked desperately. Mary Margaret snickered and showed her once more. Regina botched the next cupcake, but for other reasons.

Mary Margaret was licking buttercream off her fingers and bit her lip when she iced the next cupcake. She looked up as she finished off the spiral and smirked at Regina.

Regina shook herself out of her daze and iced the other cupcakes. Once the two dozen cupcakes were done, they peppered sprinkles over them, and Mary Margaret bit into a finished cupcake and moaned quietly. She grinned at Regina over the cupcake and took another bite. A dot of icing stuck to her nose. Regina chuckled and leaned over, licking the bit of icing off her nose. Mary Margaret blushed and looked down as she finished her cupcake. Regina smirked to herself and bit into her own cupcake.


	10. You Hold The Ribbon Around My Heart

**I'm going to start prioritizing the stories that need to be finished, so that I can finish most of my Work in Progress's, so some early stories I might not update for a while, but you'll have to be patient with me. ****Please send feedback, stay safe, stay inside, and I hope you enjoy! ****For the user who keeps _repeatedly _voicing their distaste for the ship, please leave, quickly and peacefully. If you don't like them together and insist upon the ship being incestous, adulterous, and even rape, I've failed to convince you otherwise, so please stop spreading negativity, because it isn't necessary. You've clearly voiced all your opinions on them, and I can't keep proving to you that the ship isn't what you claim it to be, so just leave. I'm sorry that you're feeling so sour and that you're taking it out on me, but it'd be nice if you found a more efficient way of channeling that anger or something, for everyone's sake. Thanks, and sorry for rambling. **

**Another disclaimer, I don't live in the U.S., and therefore don't have a clue what's going on ****history-****wise, so my apologies if I get stuff wrong.**

Eleven Months Later...

Regina bit her lip as she scanned the rings displayed on the home page of the jewelry store's website. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, she wasn't even sure if she _wanted _to do this. It was hard to admit she no longer hated the woman who stole the love of her life from her, but it was even harder to admit that the same woman inherited the _title _of 'love of my life.'

Regina sat, unmoving, with the laptop in front of her for nearly thirty minutes, looking at the advertisements for jewelry, until she heard someone coming in.

"I'm home," Mary Margaret called up the stairs humourously. Regina rolled her eyes at the teacher's habits and shut the laptop frantically.

"I'm up here," Regina called. She heard shuffling from the hallway, small clutters of noise, then Mary Margaret's footsteps ascending the stairs. Regina hastily shoved her laptop into the dresser drawer nearest to her, and shut the drawer as Mary Margaret waltzed into the bedroom.

"Hey, beautiful," Mary Margaret said softly, leaning her hip against the door frame. "Ready to go?"

"Hey, yourself," Regina drawled out. She stood from the bed and grabbed the black blazer from the end of the bed. "Let's go watch you kill it at the school play."

"I have one scene in the play," Mary Margaret said,"I won't be killing anything."

"Well, you'll kill your scene, then we can celebrate afterwards," Regina said, lowering her voice during the last few words. Mary Margaret laughed and rolled her eyes, but she couldn't hide her steady pink blush from the other woman. Mary Margaret lead Regina back down the stairs, Mary Margaret scooping up her purse before rushing to the door and opening it for Regina.

"M'lady," she said, smirking. Regina bowed mockingly and chuckled as she walked through the door and waited for Mary Margaret to follow her.

"You're quite good at bowing, My Queen," Mary Margaret quipped. _You have no idea, _Regina thought. Instead, she chuckled and reached out for Mary's hand. Mary Margaret eagerly grabbed onto it and laced their fingers together as they started towards the car.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, Storybrooke Elementary would like to present, 'I Have A Dream,'" the vice principal introduced to the gymnasium. Regina wiggled in her plastic seat and clapped her hands, as she watched the opening act of the play begin. A small student, head barely visible over the wooden podium, narrated the scene playing out before them. Martin Luther King Jr. slowly growing up, becoming a minister, and the students, and even teachers, acted out his life in vivid detail.

Still, Regina couldn't focus. Her entire life had revolved around hating the stupid child who ruined her life, and now, she has nobody to hate. It wasn't Snow's fault, not really. Cora _was _the one who killed Daniel, but it was so easy to hate the child, and not her mother. Regina has only ever known hate, since her life had begun and Cora scared her more and more every day, but Mary Margaret has shown her that she doesn't have to hate anymore. Loving someone is much easier than hating someone, and at this point, it's really damn hard to hate Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret's scene came up shortly, and she interviewed the student playing Martin for a newspaper article. When Mary Margaret whispered the forgotten lines to the child in front of her and smiled awkwardly, Regina's doubts left her. She knew right away that she was going to marry that woman on stage. She smiled to herself and when Mary Margaret stood a quick glance to the audience when 'Martin Luther' was describing his favourite sandwich for the interview between little giggles, she waved discreetly.

When the play was over, Mary Margaret immediately ran up to Regina and threw herself into the other woman's waiting arms.

"You did great," Regina whispered into her ear. Mary Margaret let go and laughed irresolutely.

"Was it funny, at least? I kinda just wrote what a ten-year-old would laugh at, but did you like it?"

"It was perfect. You did amazing with writing it. I'm proud of you." Regina pulled Mary Margaret into her arms once more.

"Are you okay?" Mary Margaret asked

"Yeah, why," Regina asked into Mary Margaret's neck.

"You just seem…different."

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No, but we're in public." Regina chuckled and backed away quickly, and yes, everyone was inconspicuously looking at them.

"Sorry," Regina added.

"Don't apologize. We can do lots of that at home," Mary Margaret whispered to Regina. Regina's heart kicked at her chest consistently for a moment, before almost stopping altogether when Mary Margaret turned to her students and suggested a group photo with all the actors in the play. She gathered her students into a disorganized bunch and smiled widely as a nearby parent snapped a few pictures of them.

"Thanks guys," Mary Margaret said to the students, before skipping back to Regina, who was staring at the space Mary Margaret was standing in only a few moments ago. Regina shook herself out of it and grinned at the brunette beside her.

"Ready to go home?" she asked.

"Always."

* * *

The velvet black box was burning a hole in Regina's pocket, the heat moving under her skin and to her wildly-beating heart. She laid out the last of the sticky notes and looked over her finished work. She didn't want to propose in a public place, and what better than to give a reminder of every single good memory that occurred in the house. Every kiss, every tender moment, was highlighted in bright pink and yellow notes stuck onto the furniture.

Regina ran through the house, checking each and every room and following the ribbon path she laid out, leading through each room to finally end at Regina's ankle. She had five minutes left to make sure she didn't forget anything and to hastily climb the stairs and take her place on the bed.

She bounced her foot as she heard gravel crunch outside, and the first stutter as she found the post-it attached to the door, reading 'where I first kissed you.'

The door creaked and Mary Margaret kicked off her shoes. Footsteps sounded around the house, throughout the entire house, accompanied by little sounds as she went. Little sniffles. Muffled 'awes.' Chuckles, followed by 'I remember that!'

After five minutes, Mary Margaret padded up the stairs, still sniffling, and reached the closed bedroom door. Regina inhaled shakily and mustered up every ounce of courage the thought of Mary Margaret gave her. Mary Margaret hurtled through the door with the ribbon in her hands and stopped immediately.

"I don't normally participate in such overly-romantic gestures, but I'm head over heels for you, and you deserve it all," Regina started. Mary Margaret came closer and stood in front of Regina, with tears fluttering down her still-wet cheeks. "I used to be so lonely in this house. I always dreaded coming home from work, because I had nothing here but alcohol and a comfy bed. When I met you, I was constantly on edge, and if I'm speaking honestly, scared. You broke me down and completely rebuilt me from scratch. You taught me how to love, and how to _be _loved. I've only ever been loved by two people, and the first was my father. Now that you rebuilt me, I actually believe I'm capable of knowing what love is. And I do, in a way. I know you, and if you aren't loving, I don't know what is."

"Regina," Mary Margaret breathed simply. I smiled bashfully and continued.

"I was a horrible person before you changed me. You are my personal angel, and I can't believe it took me so long to realize that. You constantly remind me every day how much I mean to you, but I can't even express how much you mean to me. I'm still navigating love, and I still have trouble finding my way, but I have a gorgeous, intelligent, caring guide to help me. And if you'll have me, we can lead each other." Regina pulled the ring out of her suit pocket and opened the lid of the box. She carefully knelt down in front of Mary Margaret and held onto her hand, rubbing circles over her knuckles.

"You made me better, and for that, you deserve everything the world can offer you. I don't deserve you, but you try to convince me otherwise. Every single one of those sticky notes plastered around the house signifies a happy moment in my life. A year ago, there would be no post-it's in this house. I hope that you were as happy as I was during every moment listed on the notes, and if I can, make you as happy as you've made me, for the rest of eternity. I may not deserve you, but I don't think anyone else will. You are the strongest woman I know, with a heart full of love, a brain that knows exactly what to say when someone feels down, and so much hope that I'm pretty sure never runs out. I may not deserve such a fantastic human being like you, so much so that I don't think you _are _human. Maybe a goddess." Mary Margaret blinked away tears and laughed, which turned into a sob. Even when she's crying, she looks and sounds beautiful.

"Mary Margaret, will you marry me?" Regina smiled hopefully as she watched Mary Margaret's face blossom into a small smile that always made Regina's brain scramble. Mary knelt down in front of Regina and took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her ring finger.

"What do you think?" she asked smoothly. Regina's face split into a large grin as she lunged at Mary Margaret and cupped both her cheeks.

"Oh my god, I love you," Regina said eagerly, as she peppered her lips with short pecks. Regina repeated those three words as she pulled them both up off the floor and covered every visible inch of Mary Margaret's skin with a kiss.

"We're getting married," Mary Margaret said, sounding wet with tears.

"We are. Unless you don't-"

"Of course I want to marry you, idiot. I've wanted to marry you a long time." Regina laughed and exhaled in mock relief.

"That was te even the half of it. You should see what I have planned for my wedding vows," Regina said smugly. Mary Margaret physically gawked at her and laughed bewilderedly. "I'm kidding, I don't even have any vows ready." Mary Margaret loosened up and chuckled.

"What kind of wedding did you have in mind?" Mary Margaret asked, as she toyed with the top button on Regina's blouse.

"I want a small ceremony. A few close friends, maybe. You could even invite some of your students." Mary Margaret giggled. "We could do it outside, somewhere secluded. Ooh, we could decorate the toll bridge with flowers and get married under that!" Regina exclaimed.

"I think we should definitely plan it together, but I like the sound of it." Regina nodded and sighed.

"You are amazing, Mary Margaret."

"So are you, my love." Regina giggled rather nervously, and amended herself by clearing her voice.

"If you tell anyone I made that sound, I'll deny it profusely and possibly have to kill you." Mary Margaret chuckled and rolled her eyes mockingly.

"I won't tell a soul, as long as I can hear it more often." Regina was the one to roll her eyes now. "What? It's adorable!" Mary Margaret exclaimed.

"I am anything but adorable," Regina deadpanned.

"Oh, you are everything, but _especially _adorable." Regina growled sultrily.

"I'll show you adorable," she murmured, before planting her hands on Mary Margaret's thighs and lifting her up, turning around to the bed.


	11. My Time Will Come Soon

**Stay safe, take care of yourself, please send feedback, and I hope you enjoy! **

The road was getting dark and the cars scarcer as the teeming cities moulded into endless trees around the yellow car. Her boss directed her somewhere around here, but she found herself hopelessly lost. The last rest stop was twenty miles back and she was so close, she could feel it.

_Welcome to Storybrooke. _That was a good sign, right? If there were small towns out here, she must be on the right path. Exhaustion set in as she peeked over her shoulder at the sleeping boy in the back of the vehicle.

"This is it, Henry. Once I find this guy, we'll settle down. We'll find somewhere and I can make you happy. No more moving."

Mary Margaret wiggled under Regina' arms around her and turned to face her. Regina's eyes were already open and shimmering in the morning sunlight.

"Good morning," Mary Margaret whispered. Regina hugged her closer and pecked the tip of her nose.

"Morning, Beautiful." The two didn't have to move at all today, but Regina's stomach started grumbling demandingly for food.

"I'll make you breakfast," Mary Margaret whispered.

"I can do it."

"But I want to." Regina rolled her eyes and let her climb out of the covers and make breakfast.

"How about we go to Granny's instead?" Regina suggested.

"Sure. I've missed Granny's pancakes," Mary Margaret admitted.

"I prefer her waffles," Regina said.

"With those apple slices and her maple syrup," Mary Margaret finished for her. "I remember."

"It's hard not to, I order the same things every time we go to the diner."

"Not _always. _Sometimes you'll order...well, sometimes you have caesar salad instead of garden," Mary Margaret said.

"I tried it once," Regina deadpanned. Mary Margaret giggled, rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, before a grumbling stomach stopped her.

"Let's go then," Mary Margaret said cheerfully. Regina chuckled and reluctantly climbed out of bed to get dressed.

The diner was packed like always, but one thing stuck out to Regina. The head of curly blonde hair seated at a booth, a head of which she had never even seen before. Nobody ever came into town, much less two people.

"I don't believe I've met you two before," Regina said, walking up to their table. "I'm Regina Mills, mayor of Storybrooke."

"Emma Swan. And this is my son, Henry." A little boy looked up from his plate of scrambled eggs and grinned at Regina, before shaking her hand.

"I'm Mary Margaret, Regina's wife," Mary Margaret said, shaking hands with Emma and Henry. Regina didn't shake Emma's hand. She'd rather tear it off. It wasn't possible. Twenty eight years passed? She was married for nearly three decades? Reality in the shape of a woman hit her with the force of a meteor.

"Sorry to intrude, but what are you doing here?"

"Uh, am I not allowed in town?"

"No, I'm just curious what brings you to town. We never get visitors."

"Oh, well, I got lost last night trying to find my way somewhere, so I stopped here for the night. We'll be on our way shortly." Regina didn't believe Emma, but knew she would need to fight like hell to keep Mary Margaret once this curse was over.

"I see. Where were you headed? I could give you directions."

"That'd be great!" Emma pulled out a map and scooted over to let Regina sit beside her. Mary Margaret sat beside Henry and talked with him, while Regina pointed out the road to the rest stop and pointed out which direction she should travel in. Ruby asked Mary Margaret and Regina for their orders, but Regina said they'd move to a different table, but all were occupied.

"You can stay here and eat with us," Henry suggested. _Might as well get to know the Saviour before she leaves, _Regina thought.

"Sure," she answered. The two women ordered their food while talking with them both about where they were headed and where they lived, where Henry went to school, and the child dove into his stories he wrote for English class. Regina's listened while her world was balanced on a single wood pole. It wasn't just _her _happy ending hanging by a thread, it was Mary Margaret's. Their entire marriage was built entirely on this false life she created for herself. Once this was over, she'd go back to her Prince Charming, while Regina was left alone once more.

As soon as their plates were cleared, Regina stood up and announced that she had to do some cleaning around the house, which wasn't entirely false. They said good luck to the little family on their road trip and left the diner.

"They were nice," Mary Margaret commented. "And Henry's pretty adorable."

"He is," Regina agreed. They went home, but Regina didn't feel any better about her problem. To distract herself, she turned on some music and impulsively scrubbed every last surface of the house next to Mary Margaret. Multiple times, Mary Margaret convinced Regina to dance with her, and Regina said yes each time. After they finished, Regina ran out to get groceries before the store closed.

It was evident that her errands came with a side of a visit to Gold's pawnshop, where he was quietly admiring the trinkets littered around the dusty counters.

"Ah, Regina. What can I do for you?"

"I'm afraid I've got a slight problem," Regina said.

"Do tell."

"Have you met this Emma Swan character."

"Why yes, I have. Why do you ask?"

"I need her out of here."

"May I ask why?"

"Because I do, now can you do this for me?"

"I'm afraid I can't," Mr. Gold drawled tauntingly.

"Why not." Regina demanded.

"I'm afraid fate has a sick sense of humour, and I don't think anything I could do would keep it at bay." Regina cocked a sceptical eyebrow. _That sounds an awful lot like Rumpelstiltskin. _

"I need you to tell me something first," Regina said.

"I can try, Dearie."

"What's your name?"

"What do you mean, 'What's my name?' I'm Mr. Gold, I'm the owner of this pawnshop." Regina stared him down and tilted her head. She could tell he was hiding something, but that didn't matter right now.

"Now, can you _temporarily _take care of my problem or not?" Regina's patience was wearing thin, a talent both Gold and Rumple possessed. In fact, the entire town did, even Mary Margaret at times.

"I'll see what I can do," Gold said, "but I'm afraid I'll have to ask something of you."

"Name your price."

"How about a truce," Gold offered.

"Deal." The man in front of her grinned devilishly before shooing her out of the store.

When Regina got home, Mary Margaret was in the living room with a book under her nose and a mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of her.

"Hi," Regina greeted, before kissing her on the nose. She rarely kissed Mary Margaret on the cheek, instead planting them on her adorable nose. Mary Margaret always glared daggers at her when Regina said her nose was adorable, which made it all the more cute.

"Where were you?"

"Long line at the grocery store," Regina dismissed. "Why, did you miss me?"

"Obviously." Regina snickered before gently plucking the book from Mary Margaret's hands. "Hey, no! Put the bookmark in," Mary Margaret demanded softly.

"Nerd," Regina muttered to herself. Mary Margaret gave Regina's shoulder a playful shove before grabbing the fabric of her clothes and pulling Regina upright in front of Mary Margaret.

"Hi," Regina repeated, before cupping Mary's cheeks and kissing her tenderly at first, but soon desperately deepening the kiss.

* * *

The next day, the very first sight that greeted Regina's eyes was the town clock. Unmoving as always, until her eyes focused and saw the thin, delicately designed second hand of the clock moving clockwise. Her perfect Sunday with Mary Margaret was spontaneously ruined by that woman and her son.

"Is the clocktower working again?" Mary Margaret asked, voice muffled and quiet. Regina turned in bed and smiled at Mary Margaret, hair mussed and the sheets her only cover, slightly slipping off her body.

"It is. It hasn't worked since before I could remember," Regina said wistfully, despite her current remorse for the object. She stayed. She actually stayed in town, despite Regina's deal with Gold, giving her the directions out of town and to her destination, but here she was, already starting her slow process of destroying everything Regina built over the last two, nearly three, decades.

"Come back to bed," Mary Margaret whined, "I'm cold."

"Fine," Regina mocked, before pulling the covers over herself and snaking up behind Mary Margaret. Even snuggled up to Mary Margaret, she couldn't help worrying about Emma. She may not know it, but she has the power to completely destroy her mother's and Regina's happiness with the flick of her wrist.

After laying in bed for a bit longer than necessary, Regina decided she needed to visit someone.

"I'll be right back, I just need to run some errands," Regina said. Mary Margaret nodded without looking up from her computer and typed some more.

Regina arrived at the cemetery with her bouquet of white roses and a particular spellbook in mind. She planted a kiss on a rose in the bouquet and set it down on the tombstone, before pushing the grave to the side and descending the stairs to her vault.

After this curse was over, she vowed to herself that she would get better, she would prove to everyone that she didn't have any more evil agendas, and that Mary Margaret showed her there was more to life than hate. Not many people would buy it, but she had to try _something. _Refraining from proving it to them and just letting them trust her would show she's changed, but she didn't fear for herself. What would the townspeople do when they thought the Evil Queen brainwashed their princess into marrying her? _Whatever happens, Snow will most definitely find herself caught in the horrible crossfire of my deeds, _Regina thought.

The vault was covered in layers of dust and cobwebs, but it was easy to find the shelf of some of her old spellbooks. There had to be something she could do to slow the curse-breaking process down, or even stop Emma altogether. She was Snow's daughter, but Regina is Mary Margaret's wife. She's replaceable, Emma is not. _Old habits die hard. _

Every last spell and potion said nothing about slowing down the Dark Curse, or even any curse. At least Mary Margaret would have the heart to bury Regina at her impending funeral. _That, or this may be the time to see an old friend of mine._


	12. You Fixed Me But I Can’t Fix You

**I forgot to update this for a while and I'm so sorry, but I'm really heartbroken so I'm gonna try and write all day to feel better. Please send feedback, stay safe, take care of yourself, and I hope you enjoy! There's gonna be a few perspective changes in this one, but this chapter is _very _important. I think they'll be three or so more chapters left, but I have a clear path of how I want to end it so I might update early.**

"Why are you still here," Regina demanded from the blonde. Henry was nowhere to be seen, but Regina deduced he was at the park, just a little ways from the bench Emma was sitting on, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Regina, hi. My boss called yesterday and said that the criminal was in this area, so I'm here until I catch him, then Henry and I are going back to Boston." Regina nodded but didn't believe it for a second. There was no force of nature that could stop the saviour.

"Well, then I'll leave you to it."

"Wait! Do you think you could give Henry and I a tour of the town?"

"I'm busy."

"But what are—"

"Goodbye, Miss Swan." Regina went back down the path of the park and entered her car, twisting the key to start the vehicle. She pulled out of the parking lot of the park and navigated her way through trees and down a dark dirt road.

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Mary Margaret passed Emma and Henry on her way home from school near the park, and Emma asked why Regina was so...

"Prickly?" Mary Margaret offered.

"That's the word," Emma said. "She just...doesn't seem to want me in town."

"She's very defensive when you get to know her, but she's so special, it's hard to explain."

"Easy for you to say, you're married to her."

"Trust me, she's worth getting to know." Mary Margaret smiled again at the both of them before passing them. She spotted the hospital up ahead and clutched her basket of wildflowers tight to her chest.

She entered through the sliding glass doors and waved at the nurses at the nurses station. She got in the elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. She checked in and got her 'visitor' pin to attach to her shirt and made her way around the patients' beds until she had a single white flower left for the John Doe in his glass observation room.

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Regina didn't need to knock on his door, he already knew she was there.

"Regina. What can I do for you?" Jefferson asked with remorse coating his icy words.

"I have a business proposition for you." Regina strode into his house and looked around curiously.

"I'm done making deals with you," he growled.

"Nice place you have. You live here alone?" Jefferson clenched and unclenched his jaw while Regina chuckled darkly.

"I thought you were living a fulfilled life with your princess Snow White? Or no, were you going to curse her again?"

"Snow has nothing to do with this. The saviour does." Jefferson cocked an eyebrow skeptically. "I need the saviour and her son gone from town and I need your help."

"Why would _I _help _you_? Emma's the one with something I want."

"I'm afraid you're wrong. I can get you _and _Grace back together." Jefferson's eyes lit up for a moment, but dimmed just as quickly as he stiffened and closed his door. Regina grinned and pulled out his hat from behind her back.

"Now I need you to use this and help me with my saviour problem."

"There isn't any magic in this realm."

"I think I have a few ideas," Regina said, pulling out Mary Margaret's jade ring from her breast pocket. "Now is this 'magic' enough?"

"Follow me, then."

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"Henry, we need to get going!" Henry heard his mother's voice call from somewhere in the clearing of trees. He climbed down from the playground and sprinted across the rocks covering the playground. Suddenly, his foot caught on something and he landed face-first on the rocks. He slowly pushed himself up and untangled his foot from the jutted edge that tripped him. A glimpse of brown leather poked out from under the rocks, and Henry swore he saw a glint of gold.

He hurriedly dug through the rocks and brushed clumps of dirt off the cover.

"Once Upon A Time," Henry read out loud. "Cool!" Henry looked around the park for anyone who might've lost it, but the surrounding area was completely empty, aside from his mother's increasingly frantic voice. He peeked around once more before slipping his backpack off his shoulders and put the book in his bag.

"Mom, I found a book!" Henry told Emma excitedly.

"Was anyone around looking for it?"

"Nope, nobody was even at the playground with me." Emma raised and eyebrow but sighed defeatedly.

"Alright, you can keep it, now let's go get dinner." Henry smiled and hugged his mom's waist and ran off ahead of her to the yellow car parked at the sidewalk.

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"There isn't enough magic to allow human passage, but I can retrieve an item," Jefferson told Regina.

"That's perfect. I need something special from my past."

"Envision your object and I'll find it." Regina closed her eyes and smothered a smile as she imagined her envied, poisoned apple with a single bite taken out of the morsel. The wind from the hat whipped at her face and the room smelled dusty and strange, the scent she's grown to know as the simplest smell of magic. The wind stopped and the hat sucked up the purple tendrils that were flowing around the room. Regina opened her eyes and staring her right in the face was her apple, glistening under the single light in the room and tempting every fibre of evil in her body.

She reached out to grab it from the air just as Jefferson snatched his hat from the ground.

"Great doing business with you," Regina said, smirking and still staring at her apple.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same," Jefferson grumbled, before pointing Regina to the door. She took the hint and left, slipping the apple into her pocket.

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"Mom! Mom, come look at this!" Emma sucked in a deep breath and slipped on her bath robe.

"What is it, Henry?"

"Look at this!" Henry pointed out a page in his book with a faint picture painted on the page.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"That's the mayor's wife! Mary Margaret! See? She has a husband!"

"Henry, this is the story of Snow White and Prince Charming. Because it might resemble Mary Margaret, that doesn't mean she talks to birds and lives with dwarves."

"But look at _this!" _Henry flipped the pages again to the very last page, where a small baby was painted on the page, wrapped in a white blanket with the name 'Emma' clearly embroidered into the fabric. "That's you!"

"Henry, I am not the daughter of two fairytale characters. Okay? It's bedtime."

"But the mayor is the Evil Queen and she's tricking Mary Margaret!"

"Henry. Put the book away and brush your teeth," Emma instructed. Henry opened his mouth to protest, but gave up and slid the book back into his backpack.

"But she's planning something," Henry muttered to himself.

————————————————

Regina sliced her apples and poured cinnamon and sugar over them, before leaving the bowl of apples to mix her dry ingredients.

Mary Margaret reached her hand out to grab an apple slice from the bowl, but Regina was quick to slap her hand away.

"Not yet," she said, pecking her cheek and going back over to the counter.

"It's just an apple slice."

"I know, but it's not ready yet."

"Maybe I was trying to _make sure _it was ready," Mary Margaret offered as a reason. Regina chuckled and rolled her eyes, beating the eggs and butter together. Regina continued baking while Mary Margaret watched her over the screen of her laptop, pretending to type up next week's science scavenger hunt, but missing almost every key.

Regina watched Mary too, but she did a much better job at keeping it hidden. Regina bragged about it as soon as she put the apple turnover in the oven.

"You don't need to brag about looking at me without my noticing, we're married," Mary Margaret said. Regina chuckled.

"But that's the fun of it."

"How come you only made one turnover?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Because I'm giving Emma a 'Welcome to Storybrooke' gift."

"Not even one for me or Henry?"

"It's big enough to split, isn't it?" Mary Margaret nodded and licked her lips.

"I can make you one later." Mary Margaret pouted and looked back down at her computer screen. Regina sighed mockingly and sat down on the barstool next to Mary Margaret, slowly running a finger through her hair, then grabbing the one side of her neck so she could kiss Mary Margaret's other side of her neck.

"Regina, I have to work," Mary Margaret whined. Regina chuckled against Mary's skin.

"That hasn't stopped us before," Regina muttered coyly.

"This time it has to." Regina sighed once more and watched Mary Margaret type.

"It doesn't help when you're watching me over my shoulder," Mary Margaret told her. Regina rolled her eyes and snickered.

"I'll just watch you from over here then." Regina stood up and almost got around the counter before Mary Margaret pulled her back and kissed her harshly.

"I thought that your schoolwork could wait," Regina said between heavy breaths.

"Maybe I have lots of time to do schoolwork later," Mary Margaret whispered. At the best possible time, Regina's timer for the apple turnover went off. Mary Margaret sighed and shoved Regina in the direction of the oven. Regina pulled out the baking sheet with her single turnover.

"Can you get the turnover off the pan? I need to find a container for it," Regina said. Mary Margaret nodded and looked around for a spatula. Regina crouched down to look through her cupboards when she heard dishes crashing to the floor behind her.

"Mary Margaret!" On the floor, Mary Margaret was unconscious with a dotting of apple cinnamon filling on the corner of her lips. On the counter, a small corner piece of the apple turnover was broken off. Regina fell to her knees and checked Mary Margaret's head.

"I'm in deep shit now," Regina muttered to herself. "Surprise! I'm not your true love. Your Prince Charming is in a coma at the hospital." Regina wanted to find the phone and call someone or drive Mary Margaret to the hospital, but she couldn't move. She just sat on the floor With Mary Margaret gathered in her arms, all the while trying to hold herself together.


	13. Fire on Fire

**Hello! I've been feeling really icky lately and I've been really busy (shocking!) so I haven't been able to update, but I'm getting to it and just bear with me. Pretty please send feedback, stay safe, and I hope you enjoy! Love you guys! **

Regina eventually carried Mary Margaret to her car and buckled her unconscious body into the passenger seat. She didn't want to bring her to the hospital, but Mary Margaret needed to be watched in order for Regina to find a loophole around it. One thing she was sure of, though; she wasn't Snow's true love, Charming was. Such foolish, idealistic concepts like true love was not flexible, especially in her case.

Regina pulled out of the driveway and hurried to the hospital as fast as she could, without breaking the law. The last thing she wanted to do was explain to Graham why she was speeding on the town roads with a nearly-lifeless Mary Margaret in her passenger seat.

Once they got to the hospital, Regina ran with Mary Margaret through the doors to the emergency room and called for help. Four nurses pulled up with a gurney and plucked Mary Margaret out of Regina's arms to place her on the gurney and direct her around. She followed the cart as it began winding around the hospital, but was stopped by a nurse.

"I'm sorry miss, but only employees past this point," she said, pointing out the 'only employees past this point' sign, accompanied by the thick red line in front of double doors. Regina grumbled and stomped to the elevator, making her way to the floor Mary Margaret would be on. Assuming the doctors were smart, they would run tests on her, meaning she would be on the fourth floor. Regina was tempted to press the button for the fourth floor uncontrollably until the elevator made it to the floor, but she clenched her fist in her jacket pocket to keep herself from doing so.

She was about to dig her phone out to call Emma, but she wouldn't be of any use in the situation. _She was utterly useless to _any_ situation_, Regina thought. Besides, she wanted to be alone with Mary Margaret, at least until she had to dig down a magic hole to find a loophole around her curse. Before then, she would apologize to Mary Margaret's unconscious body until Regina ran out of air. Then she would actually try to help her.

Regina didn't have much hope. She never normally did, but this curse was meant to be almost impenetrable. That was why she used it on Snow in the first place. Now that she fell in love with her, Regina started to rethink her idea of bringing back the past.

Regina missed the elevator door opening, but caught it just as the door was starting to close. She pushed the doors back and tried going slowly down the corridor, to no success. She ended up walking hastily to the waiting room, as if getting to the room fast would make the tests go by quickly.

Regina was the only one in the waiting room. To keep herself from panicking, Regina read through each of the magazines on a small table beside her seat, scanned though the pamphlets on the walls, and watched a man on television explain how a stroke happens.

When Regina was looking through the emails on her phone, dancing on the edge of sanity, another nurse poked her head into the waiting room.

"Madame Mayor, Come with me." Regina didn't bother asking how Mary Margaret was, she already knew she was in the exact same state she was in when Regina brought her through the doors of the E.R.. Regina got up from her chair and followed the nurse down an eerily white hall with grey doors lining the sides, until they made it to a secluded room that looked all-too-similar to Charming's room somewhere in the hospital. The nurse gave her all the details to Mary Margaret's condition, but she didn't need to; Regina knew the simple idea of it. Mary Margaret would never wake up unless Charming was to suddenly awaken and stumble to Mary's room and kiss her. After the nurse was finished and her words stopped ringing, Regina dismissed her and sat in the chair next to Mary Margaret's bed.

The room was near-silent, the only sound from the heart monitor next to Mary Margaret. At the moment, Henry and Emma didn't exist. Snow's True Love in the other room didn't exist, nor did Snow's past betrayal. Daniel never existed, time just stopped. The world was frozen, apart from Snow's shallow, barely-audible breaths and Regina's paranoia.

Before leaving, Regina wanted to do one more thing. She slipped off her heels and meekly climbed onto her bed. Regina curled into Mary Margaret's side, clinging to her hospital gown in a tight grip that turned Regina's knuckles white.

"I'm sorry," Regina whispered. "You didn't deserve me. I should've known better." Regina was about to press a kiss to Snow's forehead, but she didn't want to make it harder to leave when Snow woke up. Instead, she hugged Mary Margaret tightly, before letting go altogether. Regina pulled her shoes back on and grabbed her purse from the chair. She blew a kiss to Mary Margaret just before Regina left.

——————————————

Mr. Gold rarely had anyone come into the shop. Sometimes it would be days before someone would visit. He didn't mind, it gave him time to clean and observe the town, go out and collect the taxes and payments from the townsfolk, and even find a few deals to make along the way.

Gold was in the back when he heard the bells jingle together. He limped around to the front counter and watched Regina have a mini-breakdown, all while thinking she was put together. He knew her for too long to not know when she was panicking. The best people to make deals with were stressed people.

"Madame Mayor, what a pleasure. What can I do for you?"

"I need help," she said sharply. He could tell already, and smirked accordingly.

"I see. Do tell, dearie."

"It's hard to explain, but I need to know if a sleeping curse can be broken."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Gold, cut the crap."

"What are you insinuating?"

"Rumplestiltskin, can you help me or not?!" Rumple's smirk only grew.

"Well, you know me, dearie, I don't do things for free."

"Name your price." Gold thought. At the moment, nothing piqued his interest, but something _might_.

"Let's say you owe me a favour," he offered.

"Deal." She didn't skip a beat in her answer. "Not tell me. I need to break the sleeping curse. Without true love."

"Well, without true love, I'm afraid it's impossible."

"You have to be kidding me. That's all you have?"

"Well, you should know, that curse is only breakable with True Love's kiss." Regina growled and stormed out of the pawnshop, but not without telling him that she wouldn't give him a favour for such minimal information.

She pulled out of the parking lot and had to repeatedly adjust her foot so she didn't start speeding down Main Street at break-neck speed. She considered going to the library, but that was a last resort. She was confident she would find something about the sleeping curse in her vault, but she highly doubted she would find anything about loopholes or alternative cures.

It just started to rain when Regina pulled up to the vault, but it always rained when she visited the vault. Regina didn't bother pulling out the umbrella from her backseat and just didn't let the water bother her as she sauntered into the vault. She pushed aside her father's grave with ease and descended the worm stone stairs.

It's been a long time since Regina's been in her vault, clearly shown in how dusty each surface was. She scanned around the room, choosing the bookshelves and rooms she would tackle first.

She searched through the room she kept most of her potions and ingredients, but that proved useless. She moved to her room of hearts, but couldn't find a single spell book there either. She was losing hope once she reached her final room, the office. She hid a few spell books in the room, but she didn't think she would find anything. The two books she found that actually listed the sleeping curse didn't mention any weakness of the curse, other than true love. Regina didn't even try and look through them, knowing she would be let down anyways.

Regina defeatedly locked the doors in the vault before ascending the stairs and placing the grave back in place.

————————————————————

The library proved even more useless, housing no magical books of any kind within it's grimy walls. Regina was let down, to say the least. Her wife, the love of her life, was cursed to live under a sleeping curse forever, with her True Love, the only man to break it, suffering the same fate. Regina just had to cross her fingers and hope that Charming could wake of his own accord and just kiss his wife.

Even if that did happen, Mary Margaret wouldn't be with me anymore. The curse would be broken and she would run back to her Prince. Of course, her happy ending would only ever be temporary, that's how it always works.

With her head hung low, Regina made her way back to the hospital. Once she got out of her car, she immediately stopped grimacing and put on her mask that she so perfected to the tiniest detail. Regina's phone buzzed in her pocket as she got through the doors of the hospital. It was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Madame Mayor? This is Rosie, Mary Margaret's nurse. You need to get to the hospital immediately."

"I'm already here, what's wrong," Regina demanded from the nurse as she darted down the halls to the elevator.

"She's flatlining at the moment. Dr. Whale is performing compressions on her." Regina inhaled deeply, forcing her tears away.

"How can this happen? She's in a coma."

"We don't know. Just hurry." Rosie hung up and left Regina tapping her foot anxiously, waiting for the elevator to open.

As soon as Regina could fit through the gap in the elevator doors, she sprinted back to Mary Margaret's room, nearly running into a horde of nurses bustling down the hall.

Regina burst through the doors just as Dr. Whale stopped his compressions and called her time of death. Rosie, the nurse who led her to Mary Margaret's room, turned from beside the bed to look at her sympathetically. She knew the look too well already, so she ignored her and rushed to Mary Margaret's side. The nurses and doctors each filed out of the room before Regina let herself cry, even just for a little bit.

"I love you," Regina murmured. "I always will, even if you don't." I brushed my fingers over Mary Margaret's cheeks and brushed my lips against hers, one final time.

In a blink of my eyes, a beam of light exploded out from us and I was left slightly confused.

Mary Margaret sat up and drew in a quick breath before looking around the room. I knew the next sentence from her mouth would be unavoidable. She would berate me for tricking her into bed, marrying her, and taking her from Charming.

"Regina," she breathed, remembrance clearly painted on her face and on her soft voice. I didn't say anything. I didn't deserve it, so instead, I told her I was sorry, then ran back out of the room almost as fast as I ran into it. The only thing in my vision was Mary Margaret's slightly confused complexion gazing at me wonderously, like she didn't believe our twenty-seven-year marriage was a lie. It wasn't a lie for me, but she had a true love somewhere. Except I kissed her awake. Even still, I didn't look back.

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**If anyone cares, I'm happier and I'm over the girl who broke my heart. We're very good friends still and I'm really thankful for it. I'm finding myself with nothing to do, so my PM's are always open. Also, I highly recommend trying garlic salt and regular salt with popcorn, it's amazing. Love you all! **


	14. Don’t Change, I Love All of You

**This is so strange, but this is the last chapter to this fanfic. I've been writing this for so long, so to say it's done is a bit startling, but I'm so glad I wrote this. This fanfic led to my deep-dive into SnowQueen, and later, SwanQueen, so it's been great. Thank you all so much for the support, it means a lot to me. Pretty please send feedback, stay safe, and I hope you enjoy! **

Regina didn't look back from the hospital doors as she burst through them without a second thought. Snow didn't call after her, meaning she had no reason to stay. Snow has a daughter, a husband, and a grandson looking for her, and with Regina out of the picture, Snow would be looking for them too.

Regina didn't know where she was running, just away from the hospital. She typically had a map of the woods in her purse for emergencies, but when she dug around the purse, she couldn't find it. She went without instead, and almost immediately turned back around, but the thought of facing Snow White made her want to puke. She didn't need any more heartbreak; She's got too much of that on her plate already.

Regina was pretty sure she circled around the same area a few times, but eventually she thought she was deep enough in the woods so even herself couldn't escape. Everything was dirty and overgrown with moss, so she removed her blazer and placed it on a large log to sit on.

She looked through her purse to find anything useful for the situation, but the closest thing she found was a container of breathmints. She wondered if Owen and his dad's tent was still set up somewhere and she could stay there, but it was highly unlikely. She also didn't ever go to the graves of people she killed unless she's in the middle of burying them.

Regina got up from the log and paced around, looking for something to do, a plan of action, anything. She didn't think it over when she just ran into the woods without a phone, a car, or anything to do but run. Regina considered leaving the woods and finding the cemetery, where she could easily go hide out in her vault, but Mary Margaret's been there before.

Instead of doing anything sensible, her instincts told her to get away from Snow. Regina ran for around ten minutes before she collapsed down on a tree log and openly sobbed in the middle of the woods. It was like the universe was out to get her for everything she's done. Maybe the _universe _should've thought before giving her the hand she's been dealt. _David would've been much better with my baggage. _This_ is why I should make the rules. _

Her head hurt and Regina was shaking when she forced herself to stop crying and steel her emotions. She was barely holding together, so she gave up and kept crying. The headache only worsened, but nobody was around to tell her not to cry. She wiped her eyes and looked up to the sky tiredly when a familiar plum-coloured smoke engulfed the nearby trees, and finally Regina and the log she was sat at. Her vision was filled with only purple and she nearly choked on the abhorrent fumes.

The smoke surrounded the forest around her for a minute, then dissipated shortly, revealing that everything was normal, just as it was before.

"What the hell did you do, Rumple," Regina asked out loud, voice met by silence. She continued on walking when she was met with a river and a familiar stone bridge. The toll bridge. She didn't care if it was an easy place to look for her, at this point, Regina _wanted _Snow to find her, if there was a fraction of a chance that she would comfort her. Regina pushed Snow to the back of her mind and forced her tears away. What could Rumple have possibly done? What are the only things he cares about, apart from Belle? Magic and his son. And his son is somewhere else, meaning Rumple needs magic to find him. Meaning magic must've been that purple smoke that swept through Storybrooke. Regina grinned and sprinted towards the town.

Magic won't solve problems, but it'll make them easier to deal with. Without thinking, Regina ran towards town, to the graveyard.

———————Snow———————

Regina practically disappeared before I could get the chance to talk to her. Instead, I was face to face with Charming, donned in his hospital robe.

"Snow!" He called to me, grinning from ear to ear. I returned his smile, but not as convincing.

"Charming," I breathed. David ran to my bed and sat down, cupping my cheek before he kissed me. I kept it short and pulled back. "We need to find Emma," I told him.

"She's here?"

"Yes." I smiled. "First, I need to find Regina. You'll find Emma?"

"Of course, but why do you need to find Regina? She's the one who put us here."

"Exactly." I jumped out of bed and looked around for my clothes. I urged David out of my room to find Emma and Henry while I changed. Once I was in my clothes, I rushed out of the hospital without discharging.

I knew I couldn't find Regina on my own; she has too many hiding places around town and not enough people to trust them with. Not enough, but one person in particular came to mind.

Regina didn't take her Mercedes, so either magic was back in town and she teleported or she ran on foot. Either way, her door was unlocked and her keys were in the ignition. I hopped inside and started her car, pulling out of the parking lot and turning around to drive past Main Street. I passed dozens of houses before happening on my destination. I walked up the stone walk and passed a wooden windmill.

I knocked twice. It only took a few seconds until Kathryn jerked the door open desperately. Her face fell when her eyes happened upon me, but she let me inside nonetheless.

"Snow White, to what do I owe the pleasure."

"Can we just skip over the greetings and polite small talk? I need to find Regina, do you have an inkling where she'd be?"

"Why do you think I would know?"

"Because you're her best and only friend. She must've said something that could be of use in the situation."

"I'm sorry, I don't have anything. She never liked to talk about anything private."

"Thank you anyways." I turned back around, but Kathryn stopped me.

"Wait," she cried. "What about David?"

"I haven't been married to David for 27 years. I know Regina and I know she's freaking out and thinks I won't choose her."

"Will you? Choose her?"

"As long as I live." I grinned at Kathryn just as she was closing her front door. Before coming to Kathryn's, I didn't know what I would do after I found Regina. After Kathryn, I knew. I ran down the walk and hurriedly got into Regina's car and peeled away. Regina wasn't great at talking about personal things, but she showed me her father's crypt. I would start there.

Like typical Maine, rain started pounding on the roof of the car. As soon as I started the engine, it stopped and the vehicle was shrouded by purple smoke from behind, terrifyingly similar to Regina's curse. My nostrils were filled with a rank smell, and just as the fog was here, it was gone. I was still in Storybrooke, everything was the same. People were running out of their houses to see what the commotion was about. By then, I was long gone, headed for Regina's family crypt.

——————————————

Regina tried everything, but her magic wasn't working. She couldn't even conjure a fireball, one of the first spells she learned. The crypt was getting colder and Regina had no way of making a fire to warm up. She stomped around, even tried just lighting a sheet of paper on fire, but nothing worked.

She went to the shelves of spellbooks as a last resort and found her first book, the one originally belonging to Rumple. She flipped through the pages and found something off about the words. The ink was purple, different from the jet-black colour she was used to. She knew one of these tricks from Rumple and watched the words swirl together on the page, making a two-dimensional vortex of purple. Regina confidently brought her nose to the book and inhaled, the swirling of words being ingested and filling Regina with that familiar feeling of magic surging to her fingers.

Once the slightly-dizzying purple fogginess in her eyes was gone, she felt it. She grinned and held up her palm in the air, grinning even more at the sight of a swirling ball of fire. She threw the fire into her fireplace and waited for the vault to warm up. She rubbed her arms to warm up a bit more, then decided she would make sure all her magic was working.

She waved her hands and a barrage of candlesticks, bottles, potion-brewing sets, and random things she couldn't place danced around the room. She giggled and grinned, before putting them all back. Finally, Regina sashayed to her mirror on the wall opposing her room of spellbooks and potions. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, her makeup smudged from crying and a wide grin. She wave to the mirror and found the image of David, Emma, and Henry all embracing in the middle of the street in the rain. But where was Snow?

"Looking for me?" A voice asked from behind her. Regina waved the image off her mirror and slowly turned to face Snow, who had rain droplets in her hair and a delightful pinkness to her cheeks. Regina frowned at the floor and nearly left, but Snow stopped her.

"Wait! Before you go, I choose you." Regina looked up and gazed at Snow, judging how truthful she was being. She was smiling shyly. "We've been married for twenty seven years, do you really think I would change my mind? I love you." Regina still didn't believe her and swept past her on her way to the potion room.

"You're in love with me? The woman who built this room in the hopes of killing you with any of these instruments?"

"I know you've changed. I've known you, the real you, for so long that your past doesn't matter to me."

"It's our past. Not just mine," Regina muttered informatively.

"It's our past, just like this is _our _lives. So if you'll have me, I don't want to leave you. Ever."

"Ever? That's a long time."

"That's the point." Snow chuckled and sat Regina down on her leather armchair. "Do you remember when you proposed to me?"

"How could I forget, that was the best day I've ever experienced."

"See? Even just looking on it happily shows you aren't the woman who collected these hearts. You highlighted every single happy memory we had in your house. I don't think I deserve you."

"No, you deserve better."

"How long will it take you to see things my way? David didn't do anything like that when _he _proposed. I think that people didn't try hard enough to see you through your darkest moments. Even then, you were worth waiting for."

"Waiting for..."

"I fell in love with the woman who saved me. I didn't see her for a long time, but now I have her back. But I also have the dark Regina, who will sacrifice anything to protect herself or others. I always thought that I should fight for the old Regina and show her that there is more to life than hate, but I realize now that I love every single part of you."

"Even the parts that—"

"—Do I really need to prove to you just how much I love you?" Snow chuckled and surged forward, capturing my lips with her own. I immediately pulled her closer and pressed her body against mine. Snow pulled back and hugged me close.

"True Love's kiss woke me from your sleeping curse. See? You've grown and I know this is real."

"I shouldn't have cast that curse in the first place. I didn't change; not really."

"Why did you do it?"

"To protect our relationship and my curse. You are the only happy ending I've ever known and if I lost it because of Emma..."

"See? You were protecting me, in a way."

"What I did was selfish, Snow, what are you trying to prove?"

"Do you love me?" Regina recoiled from her bluntness.

"What?"

"Do you love me?" Snow reiterated. Regina nodded eagerly. "Then if I know you would do that to protect yourself, you would do so much more for someone you loved. You even made that apple turnover to protect _us_. I know you, Regina Mills, so just love me already." Regina smiled and pulled Snow close once more.

"I don't ever want to leave you," Regina muttered in Snow's ear.

"Good, because I'm not going anywhere." Regina's eyes grew large, like that was her final confirmation that she would never spend another day alone. Regina kissed every inch of Snow, a silent vow that she was committed to Snow, and will fight with everything she had for her.


End file.
